The Dreamer's Kingdom
by A. Cullen
Summary: Mamoru has a terrible nightmare that soon becomes reality. Set after the battle with Galaxia, this story details the struggle to raise Crystal Tokyo in the midst of a pandemic and a new enemy. Focus on Shitennou x Mamoru, and the Senshi. Still Editing. RR
1. Prologue

**Author Note: **This is the darker story I've been wanting to start - I have no idea how long it will take me to finish it (Firely is helping me with it so it'll be co-authored to some extent - she's my muse and my editor - what a great gal!) It's not like my other stories, so those of you who like the lighter romances may not enjoy this as much. (But I will keep writing happier stories while we try this one out.)

The story is set after the last battle with Galaxia and is my take on the actual rise of Crystal Tokyo (since the senshi don't own the 'easy' button I doubt it happened over night - even for them.) While it is darker, it won't be a tragedy (at least, not what I'd call one.) I hope it won't be too hard to follow, but I do want to create some mysteries. It will also focus extensively on Shitennou/Mamoru interaction.

Warning: There are some OC's in this, but I promise to do my best to make them as un-annoying as possible. The senshi and shitennou are the stars of this story, not my lowly creations.

With that said, I don't own Sailor Moon (neither does Firefly), and we do own any characters you don't recognize. Thank you for reading. Let us know what you think.

- A.C. and Firefly

_The Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Prologue**

* * *

A moonless sky's deep darkness permeated the silent peace of the bedroom. 

A young man with sable hair that matched the darkness of the room tossed and turned in his cold bed, twisting the sheets around him into a tangle.

He whimpered, and his teeth ground together. Sweat was beginning to form on his pale brow.

"No." he whispered.

At the sound of his voice, a faint light invaded the dark room and began to grow in brightness.

"Sire?" a ghostly voice called softly.

The voice was really no more than the sound the wind makes as it slips through the trees – but the sleeping man heard it and his groans and movements slowed.

"Is he alright?" another voice asked.

The faintest of outlines was visible in the gloom. A tall figure, caped, peered with no eyes to see the man on the bed. Three more of these translucent beings joined him.

"He's dreaming," the first sighed.

"You know what that means," the smallest replied.

They floated together, their outlines bleeding in and out of one another like stars.

"We have to know -" one said at last, "we have to see what he's seeing."

"We really ought to ask him first – we always did before -"

"I think, in this case," a harsher voice replied acerbically (if a gust of wind could be acerbic), "we don't have to stand on formality."

"Can't you feel it?" another added, his voice so soft that it was barely audible.

The man on the bed gave a sudden, sharp cry – almost of pain. The ghosts winced in unison.

"Now," one of the ghosts commanded, and as one they began to glow brighter, their outlines became more pronounced – features were visible now, their faces could be distinguished from each other.

As one they merged their minds with their sleeping master's and plunged into his dream.

* * *

Thunder seared the sky and left angry red welts behind, rending the clouds in jagged tatters while on the earth everything green was gone. 

He stood in the middle, he could feel a scorching wind ripping through his hair and across his face; he raised an arm to shield himself.

"Usako!!" he screamed, or tried to. The sound of the wind was more than overpowering.

_Where is she?_

He had been walking beside her when the sky suddenly had opened up and the grass had shriveled away.

He'd turned to ask her what it was – what it meant. But she was gone.

"We're coming!" a terrible voice, or it could have been a chorus of voices, thundered. Everytime lighting struck, in the boom of the blast he could hear the voices growing louder.

"Who are you!" he shouted – his voice was breaking from the strain of trying to make himself heard.

"What do you want?"

"Coming!"

The sky was tearing apart.

A piece of it hit him as it fell.

He felt blood, hot and slippery, on his head and temples - it was in his eyes - coloring everything red.

A shadow rose up before him with two glinting eyes and a wide, angry maw.

It looked as though it would devour the entire world.

Four stars shone brightly infront of it - each with a chain made of glittering tinsel that held them in their crazy orbits around the shadow.

He turned and saw a glimmer on the horizon - a golden, radiant light.

If he could only reach it.

He could feel his heart yearning for it, ready to pull itself out of his chest - driving him forward as he saw the shadow overtaking him - they were in a race to the horizon.

If only he could reach it first...

* * *

The stones were humming, shaking, flashing frantically, echoing the storm outside. 

The sky was still moonless, but bolts of lighting were coming down like rain – lighting up the sky with fire.

The man on the bed woke with a gasp. He shoved his dripping hair out of his face and panted as he watched the tremendous storm.

He almost didn't notice the fainter figures that appeared above the stones on the table.

"Sire," a strangled whisper sounded.

He whipped around.

"Kunzite," he breathed, "what's happening?"

"I don't know," the ghost said – his tone was sad, almost wistful.

Mamoru stared at him, trying to slow his own breathing and heart rate. The stones began to shake harder, they were rattling against the table, threatening to fall off.

"Why are you – Are you alright?" he asked.

The ghosts were shimmering, shivering, flickering like a dying flashlight – their faces almost looked as though they were melting.

"Sire, you have to remain close to the...princess," Kunzite's voice came to him.

"We're – we're -" one of them struggled.

He was interrupted by loud popping sounds as the stones began giving off sparks and the falling white hot lighting bolts outside grew thicker.

"My liege!" the smallest shrieked, his voice writhed in pain.

"Zoisite!" Mamoru yelled, reaching out vainly for the hazy image.

There was a sudden serge of power – Mamoru felt something like being briefly submerged in water and then, to his horror – the stones on the desk flashed and splintered into light.

There was a wave of energy – like an aftershock through the atmosphere – it shook his apartment, Tokyo, the East, the whole world.

It threw Mamoru back onto the bed. When he struggled up the lighting storm was over – the sky was dark once more.

"Kunzite?" he whispered.

Silence answered him.

He called out hoarsely, "Nephrite? Jadeite?"

He felt his way to the end of the bed, his heart battering against his ribs.

"Zoisite!" he yelled desperately.

His alarm clock blinked midnight over and over again, it was the only movement in the room.

He fumbled off the bed and over to the table and riffled through the drawers until he found a flashlight. Flicking it on with unsteady hands he gazed at what remained of the four stones.

They were decimated – barely a pile of dust lay on the surface of the scared table.

He stared at the piles, his breath stirring the grains of dust on the table until they mixed together, indistinguishable.

Mamoru blinked as he felt something warm and wet running down his face and dripping into his mouth. The taste was slightly salty.

He reached out a trembling hand to touch the dust, but even as he touched it with the tip of a finger, it scattered out of his grasp.

He let his nerveless hand drop to his side in the overwhelming, smothering darkness of his room. The moon remained hidden away and the stars were quietly slumbering but shed no light.

He had never felt so utterly alone.


	2. A Few Surprises

_The Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter 1: A Few Surprises**

* * *

A hot breeze blew dark strands of hair across Ami's forehead. She absently flicked them out of her eyes. 

The walk from their home to the headquarters of New Tokyo was not a long one, but it wasn't a pleasant one either.

The streets were crowded beyond anything she'd ever witnessed while in high school. People everywhere were milling around, selling wares on the streets, checking the Posting Boards – hocking air plane tickets. The smell was stale at best, the air was too hot – the grass was shriveling away and nothing green could be seen for miles.

Tokyo had changed in two short years. The world had changed.

Time was now regulated into separate divisions: before the Plague and after it.

Before the Plague had struck two years ago, Ami had been in her last week of high school, accepted to Tokyo University to begin her medical training, and a member of a group closer than a family – the Senshi.

After the Plague struck – that strange, bizarre night when the heavens had caught on fire and rained down death and destruction on the world - it seemed as if reality had been turned upside down.

Overnight the Earth's population had been reduced by a third. In the days that followed the tally rose higher and higher – four weeks after the Plague struck only half of the entire population remained alive, and of those that did more than half were already infected.

Because of the rapidity of the mysterious disease governments collapsed within months, homes were abandoned, travel halted, people panicked and in some cases went insane. – Japan was the only country that survived.

Without the healing power of the Sailor Moon, no one would be left.

In the aftermath of the epidemic Usagi had finally revealed her identity and her powers to the world when she had used the crystal's power on a massive scale to cleanse the entire country of the pestilence.

It had nearly killed her, but when she succeeded the leaders of Japan acknowledged the awesome display of power and munificence and negotiations for creating a New Tokyo began.

Of course, as Ami well knew, the New Tokyo would shortly become Crystal Tokyo – as soon as Usagi stepped into her role as the new Queen. Japan had once been a feudal nation, though some resisted such ideas as barbaric and enslaving – but the new government was formed with the idea of a republic – with Usagi and Mamoru acting solely as protectorates and regents.

Even those who had once held power agreed that in the light of the current crisis, a strong hand was needed to unify the country – and this meant a centralized form of power had to be decided on – a temporary seizure of complete control.

Ami smiled softly to herself. Little did the officials know that the young woman they were designating to lead them would not give up that rule when equanimity returned to the country, if it ever did.

After two long years of nightmares, peace seemed like a long lost dream.

Her own work today would be tedious – she was to give the final report on the conditions of the rest of the world – outside of Japan – and on the stability of the plague.

Usagi had stopped sending the Senshi to the far corners of the Earth to search for survivors some months ago after Ami had presented a report showing that the likelihood of finding anyone still alive outside of Japan was almost non-existent. Even then it had been nearly impossible to convince her the search must finally be called off.

_She has such a big heart_, Ami thought, shaking her head.

It was a fact that often exasperated them all – especially Mamoru. Usagi would long since have destroyed herself in her efforts to cure every evil in the world, and to save every person she could, if it hadn't been for the intervention of her boyfriend.

_Fiance_. Ami corrected herself.

They'd become engaged two years ago – even in the wake of the disaster – they would be married as soon as Tokyo was settled and relatively stable.

It was good to know that some happiness was in the world – that some things could never be changed by outside events and catastrophes. Usagi and Mamoru remained the bright spot in an otherwise unbearable situation.

Ami found their devotion to one another her prime source of inspiration – just looking at them she could see that there was hope – that the future would sort itself out no matter how much work it took to make that happen. They believed it, so she could too.

But she often wondered if the others were as inspired. The two years had not only taken a toll on the Earth, but also, and perhaps more significantly, on the Senshi themselves. Haruka and Michiru still remained strong – united in the determination to support one another and the fledgling new world – and they were devoted to Hotaru.

_A child is a symbol of hope_, Ami reasoned, _even in such hard times_ – _having Hotaru must be a great source of comfort to them._

Setsuna also benefited from the joy a child could bring – she was never gone very long from their home and when she did have to fulfill a mission for Usagi that took longer than a month, the first thing she did on arriving home was to spend the day with Hotaru.

Yes, a family was the only basis of support they had. Which was why she was worried about the other Senshi.

Rei never let on about her feelings to any great extent – she remained calm and poised through every difficulty – losing her temper occasionally from lack of sleep or the strain of trying to see too far into a murky future. But despite her insistence on her own stability, Ami had noticed that she didn't appear to sleep well. Ami was fairly sure it was only due to the constant pressure they were all under – Rei still had her grandfather to nag and console her and though she lived with the rest of them now she continued to visit him every weekend.

But the others weren't so fortunate.

Mina's parents had succumbed to the Plague before Usagi could save them. Now Mina was alone except for the Senshi, and Ami could see the change this had wrought in her character. The bubbly, bright, careless Mina who had delighted in manga, chased boys and dreamed of becoming an idol had grown up – almost in one night – into the mature, serious leader she was now. She still kept her good humored disposition, she still managed to spread cheerfulness and hope, but the darker part of her personality was beginning to show more often.

Ami was very worried about her. She saw the circles under Mina's eyes, and how thin she was growing. She knew these were signs of depression and loneliness, but she wasn't sure what to do for Mina. She couldn't bring her friend's parents back to life. She couldn't lift the burden of being the leader of the Senshi as well as Usagi's main advisor from her shoulders.

And then there was Makoto.

Never having had a family, in many ways Makoto was already accustomed to the loneliness that invaded the world after the plague hit. But that same fact was her greatest vulnerable spot as well. Mako had always been the strongest physically, but Ami knew that emotionally she was often the weakest – the most vulnerable – and the destruction the plague wrought had taken a severely harsh toll on Makoto.

They'd all been sent out to rescue any survivors and to bring them back to Tokyo to be cleansed by the crystal. But while the others had managed to get through their duties stolidly, Makoto had had to be relieved by Setsuna after only a few months.

_Sometimes having a big heart is a huge liability_, Ami reflected, sadly.

Makoto remained in Japan – joining in the country's efforts to restart civilization and keep it going. She was involved in re-building the universities, in organizing the orphanages and hospitals, and in seeing to the food drives and shelters for the people who had been rescued and brought to Japan from other countries.

Ami was sure the change had done her good, but how much good she wasn't sure.

Her reflections were broken by the sound a familiar voice as she entered through the glass doors of the conference room.

"There you are, Miss Mizuno," the former head of state, Miyazaki, greeted her.

He was a short, balding man of forty or so, and one of the few politicians that Ami actually liked.

"Yes, I'm sorry it took me so long." she apologized.

"It's alright," Usagi called from her seat at the end of the table.

Ami smiled at her friend and leader – noticing, as she always did, the contrast between the happy-go-lucky school girl of two years ago with the sophisticated young lady facing her today.

The serious young man beside her was also a marked departure from the old Mamoru – this man was commanding but sympathetic – and though his face was smiling, his eyes wore a habitual expression of sadness.

Something had happened that night – Ami reflected, for the hundredth time – something that Mamoru never spoke of – but she knew it was something important.

They were all looking at her expectantly.

"I've just come back from America," she began, "and from the data I have gathered from the other workers, I have reached the conclusion that the Plague is stable."

There were so many sighs and muttered thanks that Ami thought everyone in the room must have been holding their breath.

"However, we still do not know the cause of the Plague, or why the crystal can cure it. We don't even know how the disease itself actually works. It is unlike anything I or any of my colleagues have seen before. Which leads us to believe..."

She took a breath.

"It leads us to believe that the disease is...alien."

The cries of shock and denial that ranged through the room were exactly what she had expected. She waited patiently for everyone to calm down.

"What do you mean, Ami?" Mamoru asked, "You think that this Plague came from a different planet?"

Though there was much grumbling almost everyone fell silent at his voice.

Ami adjusted her glasses.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, "it would appear that there is some evidence for this agent having originated on another planet, but – there is the unsolved mystery of the lighting storm phenomenon."

"The storm?" someone asked, "Did it cause the plague?"

"I believe they are related," she answered, "there may be a piece of a meteorite that carried the disease to a location on Earth during the storm – I can't say. I think that it's unlikely to have been only one piece due to the quick spread of the disease."

She halted, unsure if she should proceed. Her next statement wouldn't go over well – she knew it – but meeting Usagi's eyes, she decided she might as well voice it.

"I think," she stumbled, "that is, it is my scientific opinion that the shower itself may be responsible for the spread of the disease. I believe that the lighting we saw that night wasn't real lighting but – a – power wielded by a being or groups of beings with the intent of infecting the world."

"That's impossible!" the nasty woman that Ami really did not like at all screeched.

"Please, be calm," Usagi remonstrated, desperately.

"Silence," the older man, Miyazaki, commanded.

"Miss Mizuno," he began, "let me understand. You believe that an alien being used its power to send a plague to Earth?"

Ami bit her bottom lip and nodded.

"Why would it do such a thing?"

Ami's eyes wandered to Usagi's.

"There is evil in the world," Usagi answered, holding her friend's gaze, "unfortunately. It isn't the first time that visitors have tried to get rid of us."

"I believe Ami." she declared, glancing at the older men and women around the table.

"With all due respect," an offical spoke up, "you do have a slight conflict of interest."

"He means that you're bound to believe her," Mamoru explained, meeting Usagi's questioning glance, "because you're her friend."

Usagi whipped her head around.

"That's not true!" she exclaimed, "I believe her because she's right. What she's saying makes sense."

"Regardless of whether it's true or not," the head of state broke in, "the issue at hand is whether we have contained the disease, whether or not it is still a threat."

All eyes turned to Ami. She swallowed.

"I don't believe it is a threat," she replied, "but I am worried that if my theory of its origin is correct, we may have to face -"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," the official interjected before the others could shout their protests.

"In the meantime, thank you for your study and hard work, Miss Mizuno," Miyazaki added.

Ami bowed, but her small mouth made a thin line.

Why must they be so stubborn? She didn't come up with theories like this for her own amusement. And if no one tried to determine where the attack came from it left them open and vulnerable.

She had been dismissed, she realized. Maintaining her composure she smiled at Usagi and Mamoru and turned to head out the door of the conference room, listening to the buzz of voices that began before she'd even shut the door.

* * *

"I just don't understand it," she said, following behind Makoto as the taller woman made her way through the halls of the children's hospital. 

"What's that, Ami-chan?" Makoto was busy checking off items on a clipboard.

"If someone attacked us, we need to know who it is," she insisted, worrying the knot on her collar.

"What if they try something like this again?"

Makoto frowned, weaving around a large column toward the outside of the building.

"I think if they were going to they would have done it already," she pointed out, chewing on her pencil.

"Maybe," Ami admitted, "but perhaps they think they've succeeded. Perhaps they're coming here. What will happen if they find out that they haven't been successful?"

"That's a lot of 'ifs'," Mako answered.

Ami sighed and sat on the square piece of artwork outside. The hospital had once been the largest Art Museum in Tokyo, but had been converted to use as a medical building when the plague victims had been rushed in.

The plague itself was cured instantly by the power of the crystal, but it still had residual effects of a weakened immune system on those who'd had it for any length of time.

Ami was about to posit another theory when her communicator beeped.

Mina's voice rang through the building.

"Ami, where are you?" she demanded.

"I'm at the children's hospital with Mako," she replied, "is something wrong?"

"I don't know – but I need you at the defense headquarters now! And Mako too."

"But why? What's going on?"

"I don't have time to explain," Mina cut in, "come in Senshi form and be ready."

"I can't believe what I'm seeing."

They heard Mina's voice calling to someone else as the communicator switched off.

Ami and Mako exchanged a startled glance.

"Let's go," Mako sighed, holding out her wand and transforming. Ami followed suit and the two rushed through the crowded streets, trying to beat the crowd.

* * *

Sailor Venus was waiting, hands on hips, pacing back and forth in front of the defense building when she saw Sailor Mercury and Jupiter rushing toward her. 

"Finally!" she exclaimed, "Come on."

"What -" Jupiter struggled to catch her breath, "what is it? What's all the fuss about?"

"Just come on," Venus commanded, "I left Mars down there with them and I'm nervous about it."

"Down where with whom?" Mercury asked.

"The prisoners, they showed up this afternoon," Venus explained, ushering the two down a hall and a set of stairs to the lower halls where a make shift prison was made. The real prisons had long since been deserted and put to better use – these few cells were the only ones remaining and they were always empty.

"I need you to use your computer to tell me whether their infected, and then I want you to run another scan on them and tell me what kind of life form they are – they can't be human."

Mercury and Jupiter halted.

"Wait," Jupiter said, "what do you mean 'not human'? What have you got down here?"

"You'll just have to see it for yourself, because I'm not even sure," Venus explained patiently, and grabbed their hands, pulling them to the door.

As Mercury and Jupiter stumbled over the threshold Mars spared them a quick glance over her shoulder. Mercury noted her hands were joined and pointed at something in front of her in the cell.

"It's about time," she murmured, "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

"I found them," Venus called, amiably, "now, go to it, Mercury."

Mercury and Jupiter cautiously stepped past Mars and peered into the gloom of the cell.

As one they gasped at what they saw.

"I don't believe it," Jupiter whispered.

"I'm certainly...surprised," Mercury commented, blinking.

She felt the hairs on her arms raise and realized the room was filling with static electricity.

"Jupiter, stand down!" Venus cried, "We can't blast them until we know what they are!"

"Please," a voice called out of the darkness.

Mercury shuddered at the sound of it, and saw the similar reactions of her fellow Senshi.

"We don't mean any harm," the voice continued calmly, "we only came here to find -"

"It would be better if you remain silent for now," Venus warned him, "until we've decided what to do with you. There will be plenty of time for explanations later."

"But you don't understand," another voice pleaded, "there is no time -"

"She told you to be quiet!" Mars growled, her fingers sparking.

"So, Mercury," Venus asked brightly, "what do we have?"

Mercury let her visor disappear.

"They aren't infected," she began.

"Excellent," Venus said.

"And they're...human."

There was a brief silence.

"I told you we were," a slightly sour voice intoned.

"Shut up!" Mars commanded.

"What do we do with them?" she asked Venus. Her commander stared in thought at the four figures in the cell.

"I think..." she said slowly, "that we'd better contact the Queen and the King."

Four men watched nervously as Venus pulled out her communicator.

"How is this possible?" Mercury murmured, almost to herself, "these men were defeated years ago."

"Maybe they weren't destroyed," Mars answered quietly, "And maybe it's no coincidence that they've appeared just now."

"The plague!" Jupiter hissed, turning heated eyes on the prisoners, "Did they cause it?"

"I don't know," Mercury began, frowning.

Jupiter approached the cell, her fingers crackling as little sparks dipped between them.

"Who are you working for now?" she demanded.

All but one of the men backed away from the bars. The one who stood solidly staring at her with his silver-grey eyes spoke:

"We only have allegiance to Endymion."

"Mamoru?" Mercury asked, startled.

"Yes," he replied, "we were his before death, and in death, and after death."

They stared at him, disturbed by the finality and conviction of this bizarre statement.

"They're on their way!" Venus interrupted. She crossed her arms and eyed the prisoners.

"Now, before they get here I have a few questions for you four."

"First," she said, her blue eyes turning hard and steely, "why are you alive?"

The four men exchanged glances, then as one they seemed to designate the silver-eyed man as the leader.

"We don't know," he said, heavily.

Venus frowned.

"I don't want to force you to tell me, wouldn't you rather just co-operate?"

"I am speaking the absolute truth." he replied, calmly.

His grey eyes met hers, they locked in a measuring look – testing each other, matching wills.

"Alright," she said at last, "you don't know how you came back from the dead. But why are you here?"

"Where have you been for the last six years?"

They stared at her for some time, their faces betraying expressions of worry, bewilderment and fear.

"I think..." the leader said, "Mamoru should be here, before I tell you that."

Mars and Jupiter shouted nearly at the same time, demanding explanations.

Venus sighed and clapped her hands for quiet.

"Very well," she said, "we'll wait. But when Mamoru and the Queen arrive, the time for secrets is over, understand?"

The leader nodded.

As if an in answer to their names, the top door of the stair case opened and they heard the tread of footsteps on the stairs.

"Venus?" a voice called.

The four men stiffened and turned toward the voice.

Mamoru entered the prison, squinting in the darkness. Usagi was behind him, holding his hand as he led her forward.

"What's going on – is -" he broke off, stunned.

"I don't know, but -" Venus stopped, watching as Mamoru's face drained entirely of blood.

"How?" he whispered.

"Mamo-chan," Usagi murmured, touching his shoulder worriedly, "what is it? What's going on?"

"I never thought -" he stammered, staring at the men in shock, "I thought you were gone."

The men in the cell were pressing their faces between the bars, straining to close the distance between them and the king. The look in their eyes was that of men who had been stranded in a desert and had at last found an oasis.

"Sire," Zoisite sighed, "we've been waiting so long."

His skinny arm was stretching through the bars.

Mamoru looked close to fainting, but he gently removed Usagi's hand and walked forward slowly toward the cell.

"Mamoru!" Mars called, and darted to ward him off but Venus caught her by the arm.

"Just keep an eye on them, Mercury," she whispered.

Mercury watched them through her visor, ready to detect the first use of dark energy.

They watched, holding their breath, as Mamoru gave Zoisite his hand. The younger man gave a cry that was something like a laugh and gripped it tightly.

"You're alive," Mamoru breathed.

"I'm sorry it took us so long," the shorter man replied, his eyes were shining as he looked at Mamoru.

One by one the others reached tentative hands through the bars and laid them on Mamoru's.

"But how are you here?" he asked, finally coming out of his daze, "I saw the stones – they shattered. And I felt our connection snap -"

"We don't know," Kunzite replied, "that night you were dreaming, as the storm grew outside. You woke us up with your mind."

Mamoru frowned.

"The dream," he murmured, "it foretold the storm and the plague."

"We entered it with you, and we saw what you saw," Kunzite continued, "but before we could warn you our spirits were forced from the stones – we were catapulted into darkness and then..."

"Then we woke up," the dark haired man said, his blue eyes intent on Mamoru's face, "and we were exactly as you see us. But we don't know how it happened."

The Senshi watched this exchange, captivated. But Mars shook her head suddenly.

"What do you mean you saw stones shatter – what connection – what is going on, Mamoru?"

Mamoru turned away from the men in the prison and faced the Senshi and Usagi.

"These men are my guardians," he explained, slowly, "in the Silver Millennium they protected and supported me. They were my friends. But Metallia somehow...corrupted them. And they -"

"Betrayed us." Usagi finished sadly. Mamoru and the others turned to her in amazement.

"I remember now, Mamo-chan," she murmured, "what a horrible, horrible day."

She walked toward him and embraced him briefly and he let his chin rest on her hair.

"Yes," the blond haired prisoner said with bitterness, "We betrayed you. And when we were reborn in this life, we betrayed you again because our spirits were still tied to Metallia."

The Senshi turned on him as one – their eyes cold.

"So that explains Beryl's henchmen – you tried to kill us and the queen," Jupiter growled, "We fought you so many times it makes my head hurt just thinking about it."

"But we killed you," Venus finished quietly, "so why are you still here?"

Mamoru answered for them:

"When they died, they were finally released from Metallia's curse, and they became four stones that I kept with me. I never told you," he added, "I didn't think -"

"That we'd understand?" Mars snipped.

"No," he returned calmly, "I didn't think it mattered."

"How could your having four stones that were actually four of our greatest enemies not matter!?" Jupiter spluttered.

"I'm sorry," Mamoru began.

"He doesn't have to apologize to you," Nephrite snapped, suddenly, "He is your king – he doesn't deserve this kind of treatment!"

"Let's not talk about deserving and undeserving, traitor!" Mars fired back, "As far as your concerned -"

"Mars!"

"Nephrite!"

The leaders commanded simultaneously.

Their soldiers backed down but continued to glare at one another.

"These men aren't enemies," Mamoru said, facing the Senshi, "I'd stake my life on it."

The Senshi held back retorts and exclamations at a look from Venus.

"I understand," she told Mamoru gently, "but we're not willing to stake Usagi's life on that."

"Not yet, anyway," she added.

"Not ever," Jupiter muttered.

"What should we do then?" he asked, "I don't want to order you to release them, but if I have to -"

"I don't think it will come to that," Venus said, cheerfully, "I think a little test period would be more than satisfactory."

"We aren't enemies!" Zoisite yelled, "We're his protectors – let us do our job!"

"Now, now," Venus wagged her finger, "There's no need for a temper tantrum, I just want Mercury to run a few tests and I'll do some of my own. I'm sure you'd do the same if you were in our situation."

Kunzite nodded and gave a quelling glance to the men.

"I understand," he said, "we will do what you ask us to do."

Venus seemed satisfied and gave Mars and Jupiter looks which implied they would discuss the matter later.

"I'm so glad you're here," Mamoru whispered to the men, standing close to the bars, "I though I'd lost you forever."

"You can't get rid of us," Nephrite grinned, "we'll always be with you, whether you like it or not."

Mamoru let out a choked laugh.

"Sire, are you alright?" Kunzite asked, "What has happened? We have been traveling for a year trying to reach you – we were stranded apart and only managed to find each other four months ago. It took us that long to find you -"

"There's been a disaster," Mamoru explained, solemnly, "the world has nearly been destroyed – a plague has wiped out more than two thirds of the world's population. Japan is the last safe place."

They listened to the news in horror.

"But, your dream," Jadeite spoke up, "it wasn't about this plague, was it?"

"I can't tell," Mamoru answered, "what else could it have been?"

"There is something else," Kunzite replied, glancing at the Senshi as they stood debating between each other, "something is coming – some enemy force. We felt it in your dream."

"What is it?" Mamoru whispered.

"We don't know," Kunzite admitted, "but we think you are in danger – we have to get out as soon as possible so that we can protect you."

"And," he added, almost hesitantly, "there is something else, Mamoru..."

Mamoru looked at him questioningly.

"There's something I don't understand," Mercury piped up, interrupting Kunzite. Everyone turned to look at her and she blushed a bit in the sudden attention.

"Why," she asked, looking at the Shitennou, "when you are obviously so powerful – why didn't you try to resist Venus and Mars when they first captured you?"

Everyone looked at the Shitennou. They didn't seem inclined to explain.

"I'm very grateful you showed such good judgment and restraint," Mamoru said, "but it does seem...odd."

Kunzite sighed.

"It wasn't good judgment on our part to withhold our powers," he answered at last, "it was more a matter of...necessity."

"What do you mean?"

"When we woke up...many things had changed," he said, "our memories are only marginally intact – many things are missing. And – things besides just memories."

Mamoru's eyes opened wide.

"We – don't have our powers anymore," Kunzite finished.

A shocked silence pervaded the air.

"Well," Mercury commented to herself, "that was unexpected."


	3. Undecided

**Authors' Note: **I realize as we write this that the Senshi and Shitennou's personalities are a little different from my previous stories. Mainly that's because I'm still figuring them out. I wonder if we're getting any closer? We agreed that we wanted to make them more three dimensional - that they shouldn't magically get along with each other right off the bat. I guess we'll see how it works.

_

* * *

_

The Dreamer's Kingdom 

**Chapter 2: Undecided**

* * *

Mina shut the door to Rei's bedroom and leaned against it for a moment. 

"Well?"

She opened her eyes wearily. Rei, wrapped in a black silk kimono, sat curled up gracefully against the head board while Makoto sat at the foot of the bed, sporting a lacy pink nightgown and hugging her knees to her chest. Ami peered at Mina over the top of a book as she sat cross-legged in Rei's only chair, her pajamas wrinkle free.

"What are we going to do about them?" Rei asked quietly. Her large violet eyes demanded action.

Mina didn't have to ask who the 'them' was. The vague mask of politeness and cheerfulness dropped as she sank onto the floor.

"I haven't decided yet," she answered.

"What do you mean?" Rei exclaimed, "They are our enemies. They admitted their betrayal – twice! We cannot allow them to linger here – especially with the way things are now."

"I don't feel good about it," Mako chimed in, "it makes me feel creeped out to think that they're here. They could kill us in our sleep or something."

"I understand how you feel," Mina moderated patiently, "but until I know the whole story I refuse to terminate four helpless men."

"We don't know that they're helpless," Rei pointed out, "they could have just said that."

"They were telling the truth," Ami spoke up, "I checked them – no power readings at all."

"They could have been disguising it," Rei insisted, "masking it."

"I don't care if they put their powers in a box and threw away the key," Mina countered, her temper beginning to flair slightly, "I'm not getting rid of them until I know exactly how they got here and why Mamoru is so convinced that they're on our side."

The girls were silent for a moment. Rei glared angrily at Mina.

"Well," she said through clenched teeth, "how are you going to test them?"

"I don't know," Mina sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"How can you not know!" Rei shouted.

"Because I don't know everything, Rei!" Mina yelled, staring the dark haired girl down.

"I don't have all the answers!" she exclaimed, "I'm sorry I can't pull them out of my sleeve for you!"

Her voice rose to a screeching pitch on the last word.

They looked at her in amazement. Mina had never produced such an outburst before.

She was panting hard, her face turning red, and her lower lip started to tremble. She compressed her lips and gave a frustrated sigh.

"I don't know what to do," she whispered, "I don't know what to do anymore."

Her head sunk lower and she pulled her legs up and leaned against them – her shoulders shaking gently.

Makoto immediately slipped off the bed to the floor and put her arms around Mina.

"It's alright, Mina-P," she murmured, stroking the blond's back, "you don't have to decide. Just forget about it for now."

"I can't just forget about it," Mina said thickly, "it's my responsibility to protect Usagi and New Tokyo, and I can't do it if-"

"Yes, you can," Mako argued, "you have. You always have. You are our leader, Mina-chan."

Ami watched the scene with a mixed feeling of sympathy and interest. She had been afraid that Mina was on the point of breaking – this random outburst confirmed it.

"I- I'm...sorry, Mina," Rei spoke up.

"It's alright," Mina said, "I know you're just trying to do your job. We all are. It's just – sometimes it gets to be so hard."

"I know," Rei whispered, a shadow passing over her face. She stood and went to stand beside the two girls.

"Do you want to talk about this another time?" she asked.

"No," Mina shook her head, wiping the tears off her face, "No, this needs to be decided now. Ami-chan, do you have any ideas?"

Ami broke out of her concentrated analysis of her friends' faces and shook herself, frowning.

"Well, perhaps we could talk with them first – we could see how much they do remember. And the nature of their connection with Mamoru."

"Sounds good," Mina nodded, "I'd like to hear their side."

Rei made a small frown but held her tongue.

"Also," Ami went on, "we could try to trick them into using their powers, if we aren't sure about that particular fact."

Rei perked up at this.

"How would we do that?" she asked.

"We could put them in a situation in which they'd be forced to use their powers," Ami explained, "under controlled circumstances, of course."

"I don't know," Mako interjected, "that seems dishonest."

"They're enemies," Rei muttered.

"We'll think about that one," Mina decided, "What else can we do? I need to know where they're loyalties lie. I want to test their devotion to Mamoru."

"If it's anything like ours to Usagi they should be willing to die for him," Rei pointed out, a hopeful glint in her eye.

Mina smirked.

"I'm sure you can think of all manner of ways to create a trial by fire," she commented dryly, "but I refuse to put anyone's life in real danger."

They thought in silence.

"We could also talk to Mamoru," Ami suggested at last.

The others expressed distaste.

"I don't know what it is about him lately," Mako spoke up, "but trying to work with him and Usagi is getting to be a hassle. It's Queen this and King that – I know that's how it ought to be but sometimes it just make me want to punch a wall."

"Well, they are under a lot of pressure," Mina argued, " so they have to be a bit strong handed right now. If you heard half of the crap they have to put up with -"

"But it's not just that," Mako protested, "Mamoru's been restless. He's always pacing around, like he's looking for something."

"I've noticed it too," Rei admitted.

"I wondered if something happened the night the storm came," Ami mused, "I had the feeling that he was hiding something important. I thought we'd found the answer in the returned guardians, but maybe there is more to it than that."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe," Ami said, thoughtfully, "it has something to do with the dream he mentioned."

"What dream?" Rei asked, sharply.

"I think you two were arguing over who should kill them first," Ami mentioned, "so you didn't hear them discussing the dream that Mamoru had the night of the storm. Evidently they shared it somehow – and it may have some bearing on the present crisis."

Mina blinked at her.

"Ami-chan!" she cried, suddenly, "I love you! Bless your ears!"

Ami blushed and shrugged uncomfortably.

"So Mamoru's had a dream about the future." Mako said, "Why didn't he tell us about it?"

"He can be so ridiculously secretive sometimes," Rei sighed, "it's that stupid male pride."

Mina laughed.

"That's one way to put it," she replied.

"Well, it's true," Rei retorted, "all men have egos the size of elephants when it comes to their manhood being questioned. They think they have to be all manly and spare us weak females from bad news or pain or whatever. Mamoru has a double dose if you ask me."

"Well he has to prove himself right now," Mina argued.

"Maybe he does have a reason he's hiding the dream from us," Ami brought them back on topic, "He may not understand it himself."

"I'd like to ask him about it," Rei remarked.

"Well, here' s the plan then," Mina declared, standing up and adjusting the over-sized men's shirt she was wearing as a nightgown.

"Tomorrow Ami and I will interview the prisoners and try to get as much information as we can on their past. Rei, you will try to corner Mamoru and see if you can get him to tell you the dream – you may have to use your feminine wiles," she added.

Rei snorted.

"After we've met to compare notes, we'll decide whether or not to test them any further."

"I agree with that," Ami approved.

"What do I do?" Mako asked.

"You can help Ami and me, if you want," Mina offered, "you may be able to get more out of them than either of us – you do have considerable talents, after all."

Mako blushed and threw a pillow at Mina's head while Rei snickered.

"Time for bed," Mako commanded, "let's go."

She grabbed Mina's wrist and walked with her out the door and toward the end of the hall where her own rooms were located.

Ami exited, leaving Rei to prepare for bed. As she walked to her own room, she heard Mina and Mako murmuring together as they walked down the hall.

_I hope those two will open up a bit more,_ Ami thought, _It would be better for all of us if they didn't pretend to be strong all of the time._

* * *

The black of the cell was nearly impenetrable. Only the moon shone down through the chink of a window that was too small to fit through and too high up to reach. 

Four men lay in the cots provided in varying attitudes of rest, though none of them was inclined to sleep.

Kunzite sat on his cot, his back against the wall and his head leaning back. He was silent in thought and had been for nearly an hour.

Nephrite lay stretched out on his side, staring up through the window at the moon as its delicate rays fell on his face. He too seemed lost in his thoughts – but his eyes seemed farther away and dreamier than his companions.

Jadeite was lying on his back with one arm behind his head, staring at the ceiling, his usually placid features stoic – but his dark blue eyes pierced the dark with a hidden intensity.

Zoisite lay with his hands crossed neatly on his stomach, his left leg dangling off the cot and kicking rhythmically against one of the legs.

"I can't stand this," he muttered suddenly. He jumped up to a sitting position.

"Why are we just sitting here?" he demanded, "We should be with the prince. Or at least in a place with a bath."

Kunzite sighed but didn't reply.

"Why don't they trust us?" he continued, "We traveled across the globe to find Mamoru and now we can't even be with him."

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we betrayed our prince," Jadeite spoke up – his voice had no trace of sarcasm but Zoisite could feel it never-the-less.

"Twice." he added.

"We were tricked in our own turn," Nephrite commented quietly, not taking his eyes from the moon.

"They won't see it that way," Jadeite answered, "All they see are traitors."

"What do you see?" Nephrite asked, glancing at his friend suddenly – his blues eyes still holding their dreamy quality.

Jadeite met his gaze with a fiery one of his own – emotions barely in check swirled under the surface.

"I see the same thing," he spat.

Nephrite looked away.

"We have broken our most sacred vow," Kunzite commented, his dark voice ringing in the darkness, "that is something we can never erase."

"We could try," Zoisite answered, flippantly.

"What we do now isn't atonement," he continued, "it's duty – fulfilling the vows we broke then. Regardless of why or how."

"Can it never be erased?" Nephrite whispered to himself.

"You should know better than anyone," Jade said, "the stain of blood never goes away."

The moon was hidden behind a cloud and the room was plunged into heavier darkness.

"Why have we been brought back then?" Zoisite cried suddenly, leaping to his feet.

"Why are we here instead of locked away in those stones!? What is the purpose?"

"I don't know," Kunzite commented calmly.

"You've been saying that a lot lately," Zoisite retorted, "and I don't care what you know or don't know – tell me what you think. Why would we be brought back now?"

Kunzite looked at him steadily.

"We have only one purpose in this life and that is to protect and serve Mamoru. Are you suggesting we deserve something else?"

Zoisite's eyes faltered at his leader's question.

"No," he muttered.

"Then our way is clear," Kunzite finished, "we will win the trust of the Senshi, and with or without it we will protect Mamoru as long as we live. When the time comes – we will return to our former lives as spirits."

"We deserve nothing more," he added, "and we can hope for nothing more. We made that decision centuries ago."

Jadeite's eyes burned as he glared into the darkness above him, his spirit longed to rebel against the chains that inevitably held him – but Kunzite was right. There was nothing more to be wished for.

Nephrite sighed. His own feelings were as passionate as Jadeite's but he had resigned himself long ago to the fate of being trapped in a stone. Now that he was a man again, he still felt as if his heart were locked inside a rock.

Zoisite flung himself back onto his cot, ignoring its protests, and yanked the blanket around his shoulders. It was hardest for him, perhaps, being the youngest and having a personality inclined to adventure and excitement – it was difficult not to grab the chance that fate had offered them – regardless of what he knew he deserved.

_Past be damned!_ He thought viciously, _it's only the future that matters anyway. I'm not the same person that I was then._

_Is there never forgiveness?_ He wondered, desperately.

The dark room held no answers.

* * *

"Good morning, gentlemen!" Sailor Venus called briskly as she opened the door to the lower prison. 

The Shitennou were already awake, standing by the bars and watching the women who entered with doubt and apprehension.

"Please set the chairs over there," Venus directed the workers who'd brought several chairs into the room.

They arranged them along the far wall, four against the wall, two facing the four. When they were finished they bowed and left.

"Now, Mercury, will you please do the honors?"

Mercury took out a card and swiped it in the small slot on one side of the prison gate. The door swung open with a click and the four men stared at her without any bars to hide their faces.

_They look so young, _she found herself thinking_ – _looking at their tired, worried faces.

She hadn't quite gotten to the point where their faces didn't remind her of nightmares she'd had six years earlier, but they weren't as scary or repulsive as they had been yesterday.

Venus motioned for the men to step forward while Mercury kept her visor on, reading their bodies to check for hidden power.

The four men shuffled out slowly following the tall, silver haired leader and went to sit in the four chairs against the wall.

Venus tossed Mercury a quick look and when she received a curt nod she turned back to the men with a smile.

"Alright," she said, "As you know, we have been working as Mamoru and Usagi's guardians for the past six years – well, seven, if you count my personal hiatus as V, but the point I'm making here is that their safety is our highest priority. So when we see four enemies return mysteriously from the past we get a little...what's the word I'm looking for, Mercury?"

"Perhaps 'chary'?" Mercury suggested.

"Oooh. That's a good one, yes, we become chary." Venus finished.

The men were blinking at her. The leader looked resigned, but the other men wore expressions of disbelief and confusion.

"Is she really that...air-headed?" Zoisite hissed to Nephrite, disguising it with a cough.

"Must be an act," Nephrite murmured back.

"Let's start with introductions," Venus began, but stopped as Sailor Jupiter came into the room.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, leaning on the door frame.

"I'm glad you decided to join us," Venus said, "I was just about to introduce everyone."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm at a dinner party?" Jadeite whispered.

The other men laughed, and had to cover it with coughing.

Venus whipped back to look at them.

"Are they ill, Mercury?" she asked, "The cells have been checked for leaks and drafts, but -"

"They're fine," Mercury answered, dryly. She raised an eyebrow at the men and they all sat still.

"I'm Sailor Venus, the leader of the Senshi," Venus gestured toward the other women, "this is Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mercury."

She waited expectantly. The men turned to one another with baffled looks.

"We don't remember our given names," the leader said at last, "only the names Mamoru called us – Kunzite."

"Jadeite."

"Nephrite."

"Zoisite."

All three women involuntarily gave a little shiver. Bad memories were locked in those names.

"Very well, those will do," Venus said, she smiled and sat on one of the chairs across from them, crossing her legs.

Three of the men pretended they didn't notice her long legs and short skirt – but she smirked anyway.

"I'm sorry about the dearth of chairs," she called over her shoulder.

"It's OK," Jupiter said, "I don't mind standing."

Mercury sat in the other chair and took out her hand held computer, keeping her visor trained on the men.

"I want you to tell us about your past," Venus said, "Everything you can remember. In order to trust you we need you to be honest with us -we need to know who you really are. If you lie to us," she added, her tone suddenly deadly serious, "we will not hesitate to get rid of you."

Jadeite and Zoisite looked as though they would have liked to answer this threat, but Kunzite interrupted them, saying:

"We will, of course, co-operate fully. As long as we aren't asked to do anything that would put the prince in danger."

Venus nodded at this proper reply.

_Two points for Kunzite_. She thought.

"How did you come to serve Mamoru?" she asked, "Do you remember?"

Kunzite fixed his silver eyes on her while the other men held their breath.

"Actually, we chose to serve him," he replied, "he picked us, in a manner of speaking, but we also picked him."

"You could say that we serve him more out of love than duty."

Venus blinked. She hadn't expected such sentiment out of these soldier-like men, especially not their stoic leader. She listened, spell bound, as he began his story.


	4. Memories

* * *

_The Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter Three: Memories**

* * *

The four men looked at each other uneasily. It was difficult to share these private memories with women they barely knew - especially when so much of their multiple pasts seemed vague and ambiguous. But Kunzite squared his shoulders and cleared his throat. 

"Of what I remember," he began, "most of the past is clouded with time, the small details are missing – names, faces; the present more so than the ancient past. But Mamoru's connection with us – his bond to us, has left the memories surrounding our earliest acquaintance quite clear."

"I was the son of a king, under the High King – Mamoru's father – during the Silver Millennium."

"You can remember the Silver Millennium?" Mercury gasped, her fingers gripping her computer.

"Some of it," Kunzite replied, his silver eyes were liquid calm and mesmerizing like quicksilver.

"I was not my father's eldest son, so I was raised and intended for the priesthood – but soldiering suited me better. When I expressed that wish to my father he forbade me to speak of it again and I promised him that I would do as he wished and become a priest."

"I don't like your father," Jupiter spoke up.

Then men looked up at her, startled.

"No offense," she remonstrated, "I didn't know the guy, but he sounds like a tyrant."

Kunzite smiled.

"He was very strict, but he gave me an excellent example to follow as a child. I wish I had adhered to it more closely. In all respects," he continued, "I was...unhappy...with the decision. When my father brought me to court to pay allegiance to the High King, he intended to consecrate me to the priesthood as well. But while he was in negotiations I, in my exploration of the Golden Kingdom's palace, stumbled upon a young man in a garden. He asked me why I was there, and I told him the reason. I remember that I interrupted him in the middle of practicing his sword fighting – he had terrible form but a great deal of enthusiasm. I offered to teach him what little I knew at the time and he grudgingly agreed. At first he was resentful, rather prideful and arrogant about his ability, but after he saw that I was merely trying to help he allowed me to become quite familiar in my address and advice. I liked him immediately, he was a passionate, intelligent youth – and I think he liked me as well."

"It was Mamoru – Endymion, that you met in the garden, wasn't it?" Mercury asked.

Kunzite nodded.

"I didn't know that at the time," he replied, "I thought he was a nobleman's younger son, like me. We soon developed a friendship of sorts – I continued to seek him out in the gardens and offer advice on fighting, which led to advice on a lot of other things," he smiled in remembrance.

Venus noted how the smile changed his face completely from the evil, malicious one she remembered.

"When it was time for my father to make the vow – I was summoned before the High King. But to my surprise, before my father could even begin the vow he was interrupted by the King himself. The king said that the High Prince wanted me to become his trainer and advisor, and requested that my father reconsider sending me into the priesthood. I don't know which one of us was more shocked."

"So your father decided you should serve Mamoru instead?" Jupiter asked eagerly.

"He let me choose," Kunzite answered, "It was the first time he'd ever allowed me to choose something for myself. I'm sure he was bewildered by the proposal, he probably thought I didn't know anything about fighting - I trained myself for the most part. He was probably afraid I would embarrass the family. I was afraid too. But then the prince entered and I recognized who he really was."

Kunzite's face seemed transformed suddenly by the power of his emotions and memories.

"In that moment I realized that I wanted to serve that young man – he was like a brother to me already. He saw the potential in me that no one else felt was worth a glance. And he was such a naive, innocent boy – you can't imagine looking at him now," he continued, turning his melting gaze on Venus.

"But when he was younger – less sure of himself, he was the most tender hearted person I ever knew."

Venus felt her own emotions threatening to rise. Images of a younger Usagi floated through her mind.

"I can understand," she said.

Kunzite smiled, but the memory was gone and he soon regained his stolid expression.

"That's how I met Mamoru," he finished, "that is why I serve him."

The Senshi were silent for a moment. This emotional revelation affected them almost as much as it did the Shitennou. It was impossible to think of the men in the same way now – and hard to think of them as potential threats.

But Venus was cautious – and even while she thought over everything Kunzite had said she came up with arguments as well. She turned to the next Shitennou.

Jadeite had his arms crossed, his face looked peaceful, but his eyes were flashing in the way a cat's tail flicks when it's angry.

"I'm afraid my own story isn't half so touching," he declared, "I'm not the sentimental type."

The senshi merely waited while he gathered his thoughts.

"I was the second oldest too," he said, "but I was already history before I ever came to court – in fact I wasn't supposed to be there. I was supposed to be in jail."

The senshi blinked in surprise.

"What did you do?" Mercury asked.

He smiled sardonically.

"It wasn't what I did," he answered her, "It was what I didn't do."

"There was a law in the Golden Kingdom that every loyal subject had to go once every ten years and make his allegiance known to the High King by a visit. When it was time for my family to go I refused. "

"Why?"

He fixed them with a haughty look.

"I didn't believe in a monarchy," he said, "it's tyrannical. And I didn't agree with the King's policies – I don't remember what they were now," he added, somewhat peeved, "but I know they were idiotic."

Nephrite sighed. Kunzite shifted in his chair and Zoisite snickered.

"I wanted to change things," Jadeite explained, leaning forward and staring at them intently, "I wanted to make the Kingdom a better place. I wanted a new government, and a new order."

"So you decided blowing up the throne room for the prince's birthday was the best way to accomplish that," Nephrite added, dryly.

The Senshi gasped and turned wide eyes on Jadeite.

"How could you do that!?" Jupiter demanded, "You wanted to kill Mamoru?"

"No, no," Jadeite said impatiently, "I didn't want to kill or harm anyone. The throne room would have been abandoned at the time – it was a symbol that I wanted to destroy – not a person."

Venus relaxed a bit into her chair.

"I had it all planned out," he continued, "it was perfect. A flawless plan. But I was betrayed by my best friend," he turned a sour eye to Nephrite who merely stared blandly back.

"I told you that I sympathized with your cause," the other man said, "but I didn't want to see you get executed for treason."

"You only get executed if you get caught," Jadeite argued.

Nephrite shrugged.

"I didn't want to take the chance."

"So you were put in jail," Venus pursued, "how did you get to the palace?"

"I broke out the night of the party," Jadeite continued, he smiled superiorly as he saw them glance at the cell in doubt.

"That was when I had my powers," he added, "it was much easier."

"I snuck into the palace – the security at that time was laughable."

Kunzite nodded his agreement with this.

"I found the upper halls, but I got turned around somehow – due to faulty architectural plans, no doubt -"

"No doubt," Nephrite echoed. Jadeite threw him a look.

"But as I was on my way to the throne room I bumped into a young man in the hall. I'd never seen the High Prince before, so I didn't recognize Mamoru – I thought he was just some guard. I started to fight him but he fought back – he was pretty good at that point."

Jadeite turned to utter this last part to Kunzite who smiled humbly.

"We were at a draw when you appeared," he continued, "I'd already told him why I was there. He never let on that he was the prince, he just kept asking me why I was so mad."

"Yes," Kunzite broke in, "I believe when I found you the two of you were fighting with words more than fists."

"He was going to kill me on the spot," Jadeite nodded his head in Kunzite's direction, "and he would have if Mamoru hadn't stopped him. The entire guard was crammed into the hallway by then – they were all going to blast me into oblivion and I didn't care – but Mamoru stopped them."

Jadeite faltered for the first time, and looked down as he spoke, "He told them to leave us and the guard left, even though they clearly wanted to send me to the Moon in pieces. When we were alone I asked him why he saved me. And instead of answering me he asked me to be his advisor and guardian."

"I wasn't surprised," Kunzite commented.

"Well I was," Jadeite retorted, "it's the only time in my entire existence that I've been taken so fully unawares. I thought he was joking but I figured out after a few days of living in the palace and not being killed that he was completely serious. He summoned me to his quarters and asked me what my decision was – I told him I agreed to be his advisor. I thought it was a smart move."

"I'd say so," Jupiter commented, wryly.

"I thought that would be all, but he told me then that the reason he'd wanted me to be his advisor wasn't so that I could act like a parrot and hide my own agenda. He wanted me to argue with him. He said," Jadeite almost laughed, "that if we didn't have at least two arguments a day on how to run the country he would have me executed."

The other men smiled.

"You kept that bargain well, didn't you?" Nephrite joked.

"I swore to serve him for the rest of my life," Jadeite said, piercingly, his blue eyes danced with a hidden passion, "and I've always done what I thought was right – especially for him."

The Senshi felt his burning eyes on them, and felt the unstated threat as well. Venus knew that if it came to it she would be forced to kill Jadeite if he didn't agree with their decision.

"Well, I must say," she said, breaking the somber mood, "Your stories are very enlightening. I have much more respect for you than I had before."

"But you still don't trust us," Nephrite suggested gently.

"I'm a fair minded woman," Venus smiled, "I like to hear both sides of the story before I pass judgement – but I'm not a fool."

The Shitennou grew quiet in their chairs.

"Well," Nephrite said at last, "I don't know if telling you my story will help you to trust me – but I'll tell you the truth."

His eyes took on a dreamy quality, as though he was watching a vision just beyond them.

"I came to the palace earlier than Jadeite or Kunzite – when I was no more than ten or eleven. My mother was a...favorite...at court," he explained delicately, "and she brought me along to complete the perfect picture of sympathetic widow-hood."

"I wasn't a very motivated young man like my friends," he continued, "My ambitions were no higher than a court artist. My mother wanted me to become a High Lord, like my father – carry on the dynasty. I was an only child so she had no other choices, poor woman."

"If ever a man was unfit for government that man was me." he explained, "I had no interest in politics, it was the ladies at court that attracted me rather than the men's games and power plays. I'm a lover, not a fighter."

"You can be formidable enough when you want," Jadeite countered, sardonically, "You have a nasty temper."

Nephrite grinned.

"That is true – there were a few duels I'm ashamed to say I took part in, but I was defending a lady's honor in each so I don't feel they were too sinful."

"You would look at it that way," Zoisite quipped.

"How did you meet Mamoru?" Venus asked, intrigued in spite of herself.

"Well, that is interesting," Nephrite continued, "I met him once when I was ten, and once when I was eighteen."

"The first time we met he was trying very hard to flirt with a young lady a little older than us and he wasn't being very successful. I offered to give him a few pointers; but true to form even then he spurned my advice and of course the results were disastrous."

Zoisite and Jadeite rolled their eyes.

"It was only after she'd broken his heart that he sought me out and confessed everything. I was a sympathetic listener and we became tentative friends. He was an unbelievably lonely child. But of course I left a few months after that and didn't see him for another eight years."

"When I came back to the palace it was on pretense of visiting some court friends, but I was actually there to make sure that Jadeite was still alive."

"Thank you for your concern," the blond replied.

"I was afraid they'd locked him away when he didn't come back." Nephrite explained, "I wanted to congratulate them if they had."

Jadeite maintained a dignified composure but Venus caught the glint in his eye. She found herself smiling.

"Imagine my surprise when I found that, not only was he not dead, but he was an advisor to the High Prince himself. I really couldn't believe it – but after seeing that he was fine and relatively happy I was ready to return home when the Prince requested my help. He had fallen in love with someone, he said – and he wanted to know how to win her."

The Senshi exchanged surprised glances.

"He's such a two-timer," Jupiter exclaimed, "I can't believe he was gallivanting around like that!"

"I can," Venus murmured. She thought Zoisite might have heard her because he gave a choked laugh.

"He never told me the name of this woman," Nephrite continued, eying Jupiter, "but he did tell me she was a foreigner and that he had no idea how to go about wooing her. And I found out later, of course, that when he said 'foreign' he really meant she was quite literally from a different planet."

Jupiter's eyes grew as round as saucers.

"No way!" she exclaimed.

Venus perked up her ears.

"It wasn't really -" she began, eagerly.

"Oh, yes," Nephrite smiled, "it was most certainly. I didn't know that at the time, but I could see he was really in love with her so I naturally agreed to help. I was flattered that he remembered me after all those years."

"As he told me about her and we formulated a plan, I gradually got to know him better – I started to understand his character and temperament and I soon had a genuine affection for him. When he finally confessed that he'd become engaged to her secretly, I was a little alarmed. I'd never seen her before – and he was the High Prince, so it mattered very much who he became engaged to. I asked around one night to see if anyone else knew her. Kunzite told me the truth."

"Yes," Kunzite agreed, "I remember now that I had accompanied the prince on a few of his 'outings' to visit her – I must have seen her too, I suppose."

"You did," Nephrite answered, "and I couldn't be more shocked. The Moon's people weren't exactly taboo on Earth but they weren't welcomed with open arms either. It was an impossibility for the High Prince. I felt like an idiot and a total bastard, of course. We had an argument and he threw me out of the palace."

"Wow," Jupiter commented, "I never knew Mamoru could be such a jerk."

"He was in love," Nephrite explained, "I can't blame him. I would have done the same thing in his place."

"What happened then?" Mercury prodded.

"I left, went back home. My mother had finally found a suitable woman for me to marry – and she'd thrown away all my art supplies and astronomy maps in the mean time. She told me it was time to settle down and become an adult, stop star gazing. I was depressed so I didn't feel like putting up an argument. And then two weeks before I was supposed to get married to this woman I'd never met the royal summons came. The High Prince was calling me back to court. I didn't know why, but I went and when I arrived he apologized to me."

Nephrite looked as if he couldn't believe his own words.

"The High Prince apologized to _me_," he repeated, "and as if that wasn't enough he offered me the position of advisor – just like Jadeite and Kunzite. Of course I said yes. He even became my patron – he gave me the tallest tower in the Golden Palace to use for star gazing. He would have been a wonderful – magnificent King." he added, and there was an ache in his voice that made the Senshi wince.

"Why didn't he become king?" Mercury asked, "What happened?"

A dark shadow seemed to fill the room – the four men grew somber and sad.

"The curse of the sun," Zoisite whispered.

They looked at him in puzzlement.

"There was a demon, we didn't know it at the time, but it was a terrible demon," he explained, "and it infected the Earth. It turned everyone against each other – and it turned us all against the Moon Kingdom...but I can't remember what happened after that – it's all full of shadows," he ended.

"The fall of the Moon Kingdom," Mercury murmured.

The Senshi glanced at one another; they tried to repress the odd, nostalgic feeling of fear that crept up their spines.

"I can tell you my story, if you want," Zoisite suddenly exclaimed, quite cheerfully.

They blinked at this odd shift in mood.

"OK," Venus said, "go ahead."

Zoisite settled himself in his chair and crossed his legs.

"This is how it happened," he began eagerly, "I was the most beautiful man in seven countries."

"Good grief," Jadeite muttered.

"This isn't a fairy tale," Nephrite reminded him, "don't you think you better stick to the facts?"

"Those are the facts," Zoisite retorted, "I was. I still am, probably – especially with the recent decline in the population. I'm probably the most beautiful man in the world now."

"Just get on with the story, Zoisite," Kunzite suggested.

Venus tried not to giggle.

"Anyway," the youngest continued, "because I was gorgeous women were always all over me at court, and men too."

"Too much information," Mercury murmured.

"I heard that," Zoisite snapped, but Mercury merely glanced at him as if to say she couldn't care less.

"How did you meet Mamoru?" Jupiter urged.

"It's hard for me to remember exactly," he began, "everything seems very vague in my mind -"

"That's probably because it was embarrassing," Nephrite spoke up. He and Jadeite shared a smirk.

"It wasn't embarrassing," he spluttered.

"Then why are you blushing?" Nephrite countered.

"Leave him alone," Kunzite sighed, "Or we'll never get through this."

"This is exactly the kind of thing that always happens to me," Zoisite sniffed, "People are jealous of my looks and they vent their jealousy by picking on me. The same thing happened when I met Mamoru – I was visiting court for his father's birthday and two bullies jumped me."

The Senshi looked at Nephrite and Jadeite.

"It wasn't us," Nephrite exclaimed, holding up his hands, "I didn't even know him at the time."

"It was two of the prince's cousins. They were angry because their fiances thought I was better looking than either of them so they decided to do something about it."

"Why didn't you just defend yourself?" Jupiter asked, startled.

"Because I didn't know how," Zoisite answered, frostily.

The Senshi stared at him.

"But you must have had powers," Mercury argued.

"I did, but it hadn't occurred to me to harm other human beings with them. No one ever trained me to fight – I studied literature and science and engaged in court politics – I used my wit, not my fist."

"It didn't do you much good," Jadeite commented, "when we found the three of you, you looked like a flattened rat."

Zoisite bristled.

"Needless to say, Mamoru and I came to his rescue," Jadeite added with a smile.

"Yes," Zoisite agreed, "not a moment too soon. Any more and my nose might not have been intact."

"The gods forbid," Jadeite muttered.

Zoisite sighed and looked sadly at the Senshi.

"The truth is, even though I was very popular at court – I didn't have any real friends. Everyone liked me for my personality, or the way I looked on their arm, but no one really cared to get to know me. I thought that that was all there was to me as well. But after they rescued me, Mamoru invited me to go hunting with him and the others. At first I hated it – such a stupid, pointless thing to waste time on -" he wrinkled his perfect nose, "but after a while I realized I looked forward to it."

"Why?" Venus asked.

"I asked myself that often," he replied, suddenly serious, "and the only answer I could come up with is that when I was with them, I wasn't the center of attention – no one was. There was no pressure to be sparkling and witty – and instead of being boring they were actually all very interesting in their own way."

"Thanks," Nephrite said, wryly.

"Anyway, around that time Kunzite started teaching me how to defend myself and pretty soon I was one of the group without ever realizing it. It was natural to swear loyalty to Mamoru when he asked me to be his advisor and guard."

"And I'm a much better fighter than those two," he added, smuggly.

Nephrite snorted and Jadeite cocked an eyebrow.

"Huh," Venus said, watching the men who were watching her with mixed looks of apprehension, hope and uncertainty.

"You've given me a lot of food for thought."

"Me too."

At the sound of the voice the men rose as one and looked to the back of the room. Mamoru was leaning against the wall, partly hidden in shadow – but as he saw them stand he came forward.

Ignoring the Senshi's protests he walked up and clasped Kunzite by the arm.

"It's good to remember our time together," he said softly, "but I'm afraid you all remember more than I do."

"Just be patient," the older man said, "It will come back to you."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mamoru," Venus said, "but we aren't entirely finished with the prisoners."

Mamoru looked back at her, frowning.

"You don't trust them now?" he asked.

"Even after everything you've just heard?"

Venus crossed her arms.

"I'm not one to make quick decisions," she reminded him gently, "especially where your and Usagi's safety is concerned."

Mamoru's frown deepened.

"I trust these men with my life. They are my friends -"

"I understand," Venus remarked, her patience slipping, "but I can't just -"

"Let us explain why we -" Kunzite began.

They were all interrupted by the blaring beeping noise of Venus' communicator. She held up a hand for silence and pressed a button.

"Mars?" she asked.

"Venus!" she heard Mar's distressed voice, "I need you – all of you – I'm -"

There was a loud crashing noise and someone screamed.

"Where are you?" Venus demanded.

"I'm – at – store by the arcade – quick," her voice brokenly replied.

"We're on our way, hang in there."

Venus glanced up at the other Senshi.

"It's time to go – our conversation will have to wait for another day. Mamoru please return to the palace and let the prisoners -"

"They're not prisoners anymore," he snapped, "I'm coming with you and they will be set free -"

"I don't have time to argue!" Venus whirled on him, pinning him with her regal blue eyes.

"You are too valuable to the future to put yourself in danger. Go to the palace and look after Usagi. That is an order." She added.

Mamoru's dark eyes held hers, the tension between them was almost palpable.

"Alright," he growled, "But the men go free."

"As long as they stay away from the palace," Venus agreed, "and have an escort with them at all times."

"We have to go!" Mercury reminded her, "Mars could be in a great deal of danger."

"Let us help you," Kunzite replied, earnestly.

"Thank you," Venus said, "but in your present conditions you'd only be a liability."

Jupiter had already left to aid Mars and Mercury was half way out the door when Venus sprinted across the threshold.

"I'm worried about them, Mamoru," Kunzite said, "Will they really be alright without support?"

"They can take care of themselves." Mamoru replied – his tone was odd, not angry or worried – almost resigned.

"I don't think they're ever going to trust us," Zoisite remarked, sourly.

"We could swear a million oaths but they'd never believe us - they're dead set against us and they don't even know us."

"Once you break your word," Jadeite commented, "any promise you make isn't worth the breath it takes to make it."

"Well just have to keep trying until they believe us," Nephrite said.

Mamoru nodded, determinedly.

"They're good friends," he sighed, "I understand their feelings - but -"

His communicator beeped.

"Mamoru," Venus's tired voice called, "we need an infirmary bed ready fast."

"What happened?" he demanded, all the Shitennou gathered close to listen.

"Mars is hurt, and..." she took a deep breath.

"It looks like we've got a new problem on our hands. A bad one."

The communicator switched off. The five men stared at one another.

"So much for the Senshi taking care of themselves," Zoisite remarked.

* * *

AN: I decided to go ahead and add this chapter - Chapter two was so long that we split it into two parts for easier reading, but I think posting them at the same time will be fine. I hope you like the backgrounds on the Shitennou - we had fun coming up with them. The next chapters will have a lot more action as our villains have finally arrived. I feel sorry for the Shitennou having to fight them without powers. Both of us will be busy for the next few days, so there probably won't be anything new for a little while. But hopefully this will tide you over until we can get back to work. Thanks for reading - A.C. and F.S. 


	5. A Brilliant Idea

_Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter Four: A Brilliant Idea**

* * *

_I'm so sorry._

His dark blue eyes watched her sooty lashes flutter, watched the flash of her pale throat as she breathed in and out. Her raven's wing hair, such a sharp contrast with her skin, splayed out underneath her across the linen pillows of the hospital bed.

Mamoru took Rei's hand carefully in his own. It never ceased to amaze him that these delicate hands, a lady's hands, could create such destruction and such healing. Rei was truly a marvel of nature - just like every one of the fragile, strong, warm hearted women he had called friends - family - for the past six years.

These women had protected his Usako and himself for so long. They had given up so much for him and Usagi, more than anyone should be asked to give - especially young women with their lives ahead of them.

Watching Rei sleep, Mamoru was overcome by feelings of love and bitter remorse that he hadn't been able to protect her. It always seemed obvious to him that he should be able to protect them all, instead of letting them get hurt time and again in his own defense. Everything in him cried out at this injustice - surely he should be the one in the bed. Surely it should be his skin that had such painful burns - his body that had to endure the strain and stress of healing. Though Rei would be back to perfect in no time, due to Usagi's powerful ginzuishou, Mamoru knew that the nothing could wipe away the pain Rei must have felt while she was attacked.

Or the fear. She had been alone at the time - out numbered and taken unawares.

Mamoru felt the all familiar curse against his own uselessness withering his soul. If only he could do something instead of remaining a worthless, purposeless poppet-prince. It was laughable.

"What's wrong?"

He snapped his head up, not realizing he'd been clutching Rei's hand so tightly. Her starry amaranthine eyes were fixed on his furrowed brow.

He tried to smile at her, forcing the dark thoughts from his mind.

"It's nothing," he said softly, "How are you feeling?"

She smirked weakly.

"I feel like an overtoasted marshmallow, but otherwise I'm dandy," she whispered.

"Did you catch him?"

Mamoru shook his head.

"As soon as Venus and the others showed up he disappeared. I think they must have scared him away. Do you remember much about him?"

Rei scrunched her eyes in concentration.

"He was about your height," she replied, "black hair, but there was some red in it too. His eyes were red."

She opened her eyes with a dark expression.

"He was very powerful - darkness consumes him. He practically radiates evil."

Mamoru watched as she wrinkled her nose in disgust as if at the whiff of brimstone.

"We'll catch him," he promised, "You just need to worry about getting better soon or Usagi will pull her hair out. She's already threatened to discharge all the doctors and be your personal nurse."

Rei's eyes opened wide in panic.

"Great gods, no!" she moaned, "Anything but that. She'd probably kill me."

Mamoru chuckled at this deception of his beloved's ministering abilities.

"That may be," he acknowledged, "I'm just glad you're alright. I don't know what we'd do if we lost you."

The hidden pain in his voice was not lost on Rei. She looked at him deeply, using her other senses to tell her more about his emotional state.

"What's troubling you?" She asked, "I can feel a dark spirit covering your soul."

His own intuitive powers picked up on her probing senses and he knew he'd never be able to hide anything from her - but why must he always be the one unburdening himself to others? The weak one - always asking and never giving strength.

"Tell me," she commanded.

"Sometimes, I just..." he sighed, trying to find the right words without becoming melodramatic or burdensome, "I was so happy when the Shitennou returned."

Rei frowned, but maintained her silence, encouraging him to continue.

"But now I feel that - I just feel like everything has been turned upside down. I don't know what I ought to do anymore - I don't know who I should believe and I'm starting to think that I can't even trust myself ."

"Does this have anything to do with your dream?"

He looked at her, startled.

"How did you know about that?" he asked, "Is that what you were trying to ask me about yesterday, then?"

She nodded.

"Ami overheard you telling the Shitennou that you'd had a troubling dream about the future. I wondered if you'd share it with me - I do have some experience with dreams and psychic abilities."

She smiled a little smugly.

"I did have a dream," Mamoru admitted, "but I have no idea if it means anything at all. I had it on the night of the storm - the night the Shitennou's stones disintegrated. The dream seems to point to a coming enemy, but there wasn't anything specific about it's nature. Just four stars tied to it."

"Four stars?" she asked sharply, "Could they be the Shitennou?"

He kept a firm hold on his patience and replied, "No. I'm sure of that - it didn't feel like them."

She looked doubtful, which made him slightly peeved, but at the same time - he also was beginning to have doubts.

"I have these -" he began, then cut off, almost embarrassed.

Rei's eyes turned soft as she reached for his hand.

"Tell me," she pleaded, "You can't carry everything by yourself."

He looked at her with doubt in his eyes but took a deep breath.

"Sometimes I have memories concerning the Shitennou - wonderful memories of what our lives were like in the Silver Millennium, but - what do I really know about them, Rei?"

He looked at her with a desperation that pierced her soul.

"I don't even know what my real feelings are," he cried, "I don't know if the friendship I feel for them is real or just a memory. I don't know why I trust them - I have no reasons other than what my heart tells me and it's confused."

Rei winced, it hurt her to see him so visibly tortured by his own fears and feelings.

"It's alright," she murmured, "even if I don't understand your trust for the Shitennou, if your heart tells you to trust them - I -" she hesitated, hardly believing what she was saying.

"I think you should listen to it," she finished with a struggle.

"She's right," a sweet voice called from the doorway.

Mamoru turned sharply to see Usagi standing in the doorway with tears shining in her eyes.

"Why do you insist on trying to take on the whole world?" she fussed, walking to where he sat and embracing him.

"Don't be afraid to share these things with me," she begged.

He hugged her to him tightly, feeling the unmanly urge to succumb to his emotions. He fought it off and released her.

"I'm sorry, Usako, but - these are things I don't even understand."

"I know," she said and turned so that she could take Rei's hand.

"But you should still tell your friends and your fiance," she chastised, "Right?"

"Right!" Rei replied on cue.

He smiled wanly.

"So the Shitennou are still a problem?" Usagi guessed.

Rei looked uneasily at Mamoru and nodded.

"We are trying to trust them, Usagi," she said, "but it's difficult. I feel no evil presence around them, but that doesn't mean that whatever caused them to turn traitor the first time won't happen again."

"They were good the first time too," she reminded both of them.

"That's true, as far as we know," Usagi agreed.

"If we just knew what happened," Rei sighed, frustrated, "I'd feel a million times easier. But you know how I am - I can't help being suspicious."

Usagi chuckled.

"I know, and it's a good thing because I'm way too gullible!"

"But this is a problem," she continued, a serious look on her face. Mamoru and Rei exchanged an amused glance.

"We have to work together," Usagi announced, "we can't be bickering all the time while the enemy is trying to find us."

"It didn't slow you down the first couple of years," Mamoru pointed out, sarcastically.

Rei and Usagi threw him a glare, and Usagi stuck out her tongue for good measure.

"That was different," she informed him, haughtily, "those were love fights."

"Love fights? What the hell are you talking about, Odango?" Rei demanded.

"Rei!" Usagi whined, "You're only proving his point."

Mamoru was laughing a little more heartily now, which was exactly what Usagi and Rei wanted.

"Anyway, how can we work together if we can't trust each other?" Rei asked.

"We just have to find a way."

Mamoru ruffled Usagi's hair.

"Don't think too hard," he warned her, "your poor brain can't handle too much, you know."

"Mamoru!"

Rei smiled wryly at the two of them. She could only imagine what Crystal Tokyo would be like.

* * *

"Is Sailor Mars going to be alright?" Kunzite asked. The Shitennou stood in the hospital hallway as they watched Mamoru with varying expressions of anxiety and interest, though Kunzite's face remained relatively emotionless despite his inquiries. 

"According to Ami, she'll be fine." he sighed, "But we need to have a talk."

"I'm glad to hear Sailor Mars will recover," Kunzite remarked, falling into step with Mamoru as he walked down the hall, "But what is troubling you?"

Mamoru halted, abruptly. He turned to look back at them – staring intently at each of their faces.

"I really got used to the four of you being stones," he said, unexpectedly.

They stared at him in surprise.

"Have we done something -" Nephrite began.

"When I look at you," Mamoru said, his dark eyes watching their concerned faces, "Snatches of memories from another life float through my mind. I feel the bond with you as strong as it was the day we made it -"

"We do too, that's what -" Jadeite interjected.

"But I realize that this connection – this friendship that I feel for you, so suddenly – It's really not - ."

They were silent. Kunzite frowned and stood rigidly, waiting for his prince to collect his thoughts.

"Now that I really think about it," Mamoru said, "I guess I just don't really know who you are."

He looked as though he would have liked to have said more. He stood, rooted, struggling with his own emotions for a moment, then turned quickly and walked toward the lobby.

The Shitennou stared at his back as he walked away.

Zoisite started to call out, but Nephrite put a hand on his shoulder.

"Leave him alone for now," he said quietly.

"He's right," Jadeite said, and they turned to look at him. His face was hard and doleful.

"He doesn't know who we are, and we don't really know who he is."

Zoisite turned an angry eye to Jadeite.

"Are you suggesting that I don't know my prince – the man I swore allegiance to – the man who was practically my brother -"

"I'm not suggesting anything," Jadeite remarked, bitterly, "But the Endymion we knew in the past isn't here anymore. He's changed. We've changed. The Silver Millennium is gone and nothing can ever bring it back. And the sooner we realize that – the better."

He stalked off in the direction Mamoru had exited.

Nephrite sighed.

"Mamoru's words really hurt him," he remarked to no one, "but he does have a point."

"But why would Mamoru doubt us? He trusted us enough when we were stones -" Zoisite argued.

"Mamoru and the Senshi have been fighting for a long time without us." Kunzite remarked, with an unexpected insight, "We can't possibly begin to understand what they've been through."

"And they can't understand what we've been through either," Nephrite added, darkly.

Kunzite only frowned and strode purposefully after Jadeite and Mamoru.

* * *

"Thank you for all agreeing to meet together," Usagi spoke cheerfully, "If everyone is comfortable, I'd like to tell you why I called you here." 

She looked around at the faces watching her – she noticed the lost, dark look on Mamoru's face – it constantly pained her to see it there, growing darker every day.

She turned to steal a glance at Mina, Mako and Ami's faces. They were all grim, tight lipped – their eyes had circles under them. She knew they were doing their best to make the day to day decisions that provided her with safety at so much cost to themselves. What secret pains and fears were they keeping hidden from her under brave facades?

She knew about Mako's nightmares, about Mina and Rei's inability to sleep, about Ami's increasing anti-social tendencies. Part of it was the pressure they faced, part of it was growing pains. But though she didn't begrudge the Shitennou for their reappearance in anyway, she did have a silent regret for the added anxiety their presence caused on the part of her friends.

And what about the Shitennou themselves? She hadn't gotten to know them well – she still had to repress a shudder when she caught Kunzite scowling, or heard Jadeite and Nephrite's laughter. Too many horrible memories were caught up in those simple things – could they ever be wiped away?

She set her smile determinedly: everything could be cured, it just took time. And patience.

As she looked at the faces of her erstwhile enemies, she saw the vulnerability they tried to hide, the uncertainty they felt about their surroundings, and the unbearable loneliness of their existence. They had each other, but they were inevitably cut off from everyone else. In the wrong time, the wrong place – the wrong life, her heart swelled with pity as she contemplated their tired faces.

A polite cough startled her out of her reverie.

They were all staring at her, Mina had a slightly bemused expression on her face.

"Are you gonna leave us hanging?" she asked.

Usagi smiled and shook her head at her own absent mindedness.

"Not at all. Just gathering my thoughts," she said.

"We have a new enemy, it seems. From Rei's description he's a man close to Mamoru's build with black-red hair and a nasty temper. We don't know what he was after, or why he attacked Mars, but we do know this -"

She paused to look at them all.

"If we want to defeat this new threat, we have to work together."

No one looked very enthusiastic about this news.

"I understand that because of past circumstances things between the Senshi, the Shitennou, Mamoru and myself haven't been exactly...easy."

"You can say that again," Zoisite retorted.

The Senshi gave him a quelling glance, but he refused to be cowed.

"In light of the recent attack on Sailor Mars, I think it's pretty clear that this is no time for inner tension. We have to stand together to be strong – to protect each other. I want you to tell me how we can accomplish that."

They all stared at her for a moment.

"That's not something the old Bunny would've come up with," Mako whispered to Ami.

The girl nodded.

"She's becoming the Queen she was meant to be," Mina whispered back, smiling proudly.

"I think, if I may speak on behalf of all of us," Kunzite spoke up, "we are more than willing to do whatever is necessary to prove our loyalty and our willingness to serve you and the prince in what ever way you wish."

Usagi smiled, kindly.

"Thank you," she said.

"But," he added, sternly, "We will serve the prince whether the Senshi ultimately agree with us or not."

Usagi winced at his authoritative tone. She knew the effect it would have on her independent Senshi.

Jadeite caught Nephrite's eye and even without telepathy they communicated the news to each other: Kunzite had finally dropped the humble act – he was becoming his usual, martial, no nonsense self.

"About time," Jadeite murmured softly.

Nephrite grinned in anticipation. The Senshi were tough women, he knew, but no one was as tough as Kunzite was capable of being, especially when he went into 'leader' mode. If the Senshi continued to resist, they would find an unwelcome surprise in him.

"You are our leader, Usagi," Mina began, "and you know that we will always be on your side. But as a matter of precaution I really feel it isn't asking too much to be allowed to put our fears to rest about the Shitennou's...past."

She glanced at Kunzite as she said this, a determined look on her face. He answered it with a regally calm look of his own – Mina frowned suddenly, noticing the change in his attitude, but neither backed down.

"Mamoru, what do you think?" Usagi asked, pointedly but gently.

He avoided looking at the Shitennou, even though their eyes were instantly glued to his face.

"I feel," he said slowly, "that getting to know more about the Shitennou would not be a wasted effort."

Mina looked at Mamoru with an air of confusion.

She wondered why he would have changed his mind and mood so suddenly. He'd been a staunch supporter of the Shitennou from day one, but now? Was he getting cold feet? Had he remembered something? For the umpteenth time she cursed her lack of memory – if only she knew what had happened in the Silver Millennium – the past held the key to the future, she was sure.

"What proof do you need to be able to trust the Shitennou?" Mamoru asked, though he already knew the answer.

"I think that we'd like to know more about their past, of course," she said, "what they have told us is very enlightening, but what we really need to know about is the – ah – betrayal itself. Why it happened -"

"Why must you know that?!" Zoisite burst out and they all turned to stare at him.

"Why do you have to make us remember that?" he cried, "Can't you just accept our apologies? There's no need to bring up such hellish demons -"

"Zoisite!" Kunzite barked.

"Please."

To their surprise, Zoisite seemed close to tears.

"Please don't do this," he begged.

"But I thought you said you didn't remember anything." Mako pointed out, suspiciously.

"I don't remember facts," Zoisite snapped, "but I remember feelings well enough – and every nerve I have is fairly screaming at me to stay away from the past."

Usagi and Mako were visibly moved, but Ami turned a cold eye on him.

"Don't you think you're being a little ridiculous?" she asked.

They were silent, even Mina looked surprised.

Ami adjusted her glasses and went on:

"You were the ones who chose to commit yourself to such 'hellish demons' in the first place," she said with perfect candor, her eyes boring into Zoisite's. The young man stared at her in pain and shock, as tough she had stabbed him.

Ami felt more than a twinge of regret at this but she stuffed it down and continued:

"I fought you, I nearly lost my life many times, as did the other Senshi. And now you've appeared out of nowhere, and ask us to accept your apologies without any explanation?"

Her logic was flawless and cold, as was her gaze as it rested on Zoisite. He mastered his own emotions and gave her a steely look in return.

"I'm sorry," he said stiffly, "but you have no idea what you're -"

"No, you have no idea!" Mako barked, jumping out of her chair.

"You have no idea what it was like to fight the four of you, when I was only fourteen years old!" she cried, "It was terrifying, horrible! I never asked for a normal life – I can deal with what I've been given, but if you're asking me to just gloss over the past because you don't want to face the skeletons, well I'm sorry but it isn't going to happen!"

She was panting, her hands were clenched and her face was red.

The Shitennou stared at her – Zoisite's face was a mess of regret, anguish and fear – Nephrite's intense sorrow, while Jadeite struggled to preserve his mask and his eyes glared angrily like a wounded animal. Only Kunzite continued to show no emotion – though his stance suggested to Mina's expert eye that he was somewhat uncomfortable.

"I'm so sorry," Nephrite said at last, controlling himself with an effort, "You have no idea how sorry I am. How sorry we all are. We can never undo what we did. We know that. Believe me, if it were up to us and not some strange twist of fate, we would all be locked inside stones again."

"Well I wish you were!" Mako yelled, her emotions were running away with her. Nephrite flinched visibly at her words.

Mina put a soothing hand on Mako's arm and tried to get her to sit. She could read the emotions on his face and in Zoisite's as clearly as she could have spelled her own name. But she had to be strong – she had to put her natural sympathy aside.

"We don't mean to cause you any pain," Mina said, her voice and face subdued, "but we need to know for our own peace of mind – what happened?"

"Tell them."

Jadeite stared at them stonily, his face a mask and his tone raw.

"Tell them, Kunzite, or I'll tell them myself." he said.

Kunzite glanced at him disapprovingly, but nodded.

"We have a right to know," Mina said.

He bowed his head.

"I cannot remember how we were bound to Metallia – to Beryl – that is the truth," he raised his silver eyes to meet Mako's angry ones.

"But on my twentieth birthday, a strange woman appeared in my dreams. I knew she was evil," he explained in a monotone voice, "she asked me to help her conquer the world, made all sort of ridiculous promises. I refused. Then she called me for the first time by the name 'Kunzite'. I felt as if there were strings suddenly attached to every part of me – controlling me – as soon as she said it. It was the bond – the vow we'd made in the past."

"So when you swore to Beryl in the past, the vow held, even after you were reborn?" Ami pursued.

"Yes."

"Wait," Mako interjected, "what do you mean this happened on your twentieth birthday?"

Jadeite answered her:

"What? Did you think we were born in the Dark Kingdom?"

His handsome lips curled into a sneer.

"We had lives, families, friends – a normal life before we were awakened and then captured by Beryl. So you see, we really aren't so different from you, are we?"

Mako recoiled at his bitter expression.

"We didn't betray anyone," Ami pointed out. But Jadeite whipped his head around to stare her down too.

"You've never been put in a situation where you had no control over yourself – over your actions – even over your own mind."

"Mamoru has," he added, "ask him what it's like, if you really want to know. But don't lecture me about holiness and temptation, little girl. You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Shut up," Mako snarled, but neither she nor Ami could refute his point. He merely glared at them in silence, daring them to continue.

"I can see that I was foolish to think everything might be smoothed over," Mamoru spoke, suddenly.

Usagi regarded him in surprise, noticing the hopelessness in his tone.

"We are in a mess," he continued, "And I don't see a way out of it. Both the Senshi and Shitennou have valid points – I can't say what's right and wrong anymore."

He looked up at Mina.

"Do what you want," he said, "I have to get back to work."

Without glancing at the Shitennou he stood and walked out of the room. The Shitennou followed him with wistful eyes.

Usagi bit her tongue, willing herself to stay where she was and see the conversation through. She had to find a way to get them to work together.

"Unless we know everything about you, we can't judge if you are a threat to us or not," Mina argued, "And I don't see how we can possibly do that -"

"We could tell you everything about ourselves and you'd still find reasons to distrust us," Zoisite declared.

"I've been as fair as I possibly can be!" Mina snapped, losing her temper, "Do you honestly expect me to welcome you all back with open arms!?"

"You could at least welcome us back," Jadeite suggested.

"What is your problem?" Mako demanded, "You have the worst attitude I've ever seen. If I were Mamoru I wouldn't have picked you to be my guardian in a million years."

"Well that would have been very wise of you, under the circumstances," Jadeite retorted, "and Mamoru probably agrees with you!"

"Jadeite calm down," Nephrite growled, putting out a hand to ward off Mako.

"Don't you lay a hand on me," she snarled.

"I think you're overreacting," he remarked, his temper beginning to fray, "I barely touched you and had no intentions -"

"I don't care what your intentions were! I -"

"Everyone!"

They froze at the sound of Usagi's cheerful voice raised in a tone of anger.

The soon-to-be queen gazed at them with the look of a frazzled mother of quintuplets.

"I have had an idea," she said, and her mouth curved up into a brilliant smile.

"I know that look," Mina muttered. The other girls became very quiet.

"Mina is quite right," she continued, "you can't trust anyone until you know that person, and even if you told us your life stories, experience counts more than facts. So here is what I propose. Since you no longer have your powers, and owing to the scarcity of available space and resources, each of the Shitennou will partner up and live with a Senshi."

Seven people stared at her in shock and disbelief.

"Are you insane-" Mako began.

"I will pair you up," Usagi said, "and you will live together and work together until we are all satisfied about each other's loyalties."

"But -"

"No arguments," Usagi tsked, brightly, "Now."

"All due respect, Usagi-sama," Zoisite spoke up, "but we only take orders from Mamoru."

Kunzite nodded stolidly and crossed his arms over his chest – looking as hard and formidable as a piece of rock.

"That may be true," Usagi said sweetly, "but Mamoru will agree with me on this. If you want I can call him back here and ask him – but he's probably knee deep in work already and he can be terribly grumpy -"

"That's alright," Nephrite said, hastily.

Kunzite squared his mouth and said, "We will do as you ask us for now, Usagi-hime. But should Mamoru's opinion differer from your own we will not hesitate to disregard any and all orders from you."

Mina and Mako growled at this but he paid them no more heed than if they'd been flies.

Usagi nodded and glanced around the room.

"Zoisite, you will stay with Ami -"

"What!?"

"Usagi!"

"Nephrite and Mina," she continued, blithely.

The two people looked at each other uncertainly.

"Jadeite and Makoto."

"There is no way in -"

"Believe me, the feeling is mutual."

"And Kunzite, you will stay with Rei, once she recovers," Usagi finished.

"Now I have to get back to work. Come to me only if something very important happens."

She turned on her heel, blond buns bobbing, and walked out of the lobby leaving seven very unhappy people behind her.

"Rei's not going to be very happy when she hears about this." Mina muttered.

"It'll probably finish the job that evil jerk started," Mako snorted.

Ami was alternating between blushing and blanching, she turned a tortured look on Zoisite who completely misinterpreted it.

"I won't disturb your precious things," he snapped, "Just lead on – I am in serious need of a bubble bath and a long, luxurious massage."

Ami stared at him. He flicked his hair over his shoulder. She gulped and turned away to trot off as fast as she could go, hoping that if she could just go to sleep tonight tomorrow would prove everything had been a dream. How could Usagi do this? Saddle her with this creature – and a man in her private room? It was horrible.

Mako scowled at Jadeite. He wore an unperturbed expression, but his eyes danced with annoyance.

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked him straight in the eye.

"Listen," she said, "I don't like this arrangement any more than you do, but my princess gave me an order and I'm going to follow it. But if you try anything funny I'll blast your ass back to the Dark Kingdom so fast you won't know what hit you. Got it?"

"After you," was all he said.

"If it was anyone other than Usagi.." she growled and stormed past him.

Nephrite gave Mina a slight bow. She looked more worried than she did angry or disgusted.

"I promise you need have no fears about my sharing your room," he reassured her, "I will do my best not to intrude."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that," she said, absently, "I just don't know where I'll be able to set up another bed – it's a little...messy."

Nephrite blinked. He thought he caught the barest beginnings of an amused smile on Kunzite's stony face – but it might have been his imagination. This was better than hostility so he followed Mina out of the hospital with some hope.

"Oh," Mina called over shoulder to Kunzite, "you might as well come too, I'll show you where Rei's room is."

"May kami-sama have mercy on our souls," she added under her breath.

* * *

A.N. - Alright, we've been working on this one for a little while. I dunno - sometimes I'm afraid this story might be too much to chew in one bite. We've worked out the rest of the plot but there's still a couple of things - character development for instance. I don't think I've got a handle on them quite yet. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks! 


	6. Cooperation

_Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter Five: Co-operation**

* * *

"Zoisite!" Ami's voice called frantically as she pounded her tiny fists. 

"It's been an hour!"

"Get out of the bathroom!!" she demanded, losing her calm at last.

She'd gone to sleep that night, very uncomfortably (a man in her room, the thought was unthinkable!) to the sound of his yammering on about how innocent he was, and how persecuted he felt and how illogical they were all behaving.

_Honestly, the man could talk the ears off a statue!_ She thought, angrily.

And when she'd awoken to find him gone – her happiness at thinking it had indeed all been a terrible dream was destroyed by the sound of the shower and a male voice twittering joyfully inside her private bathroom.

And now, here she was, an hour later, ten minutes away from being late to work, and the ridiculous peacock was still showering.

"Get out or I'll – I'll -" she stammered, "I'll come in there myself!"

Her face turned a brilliant red just thinking about this scenario, but she clenched her hands on the door knob determinedly.

"Come on in, then," she heard him call, audaciously, "It won't bother me!"

"The nerve!" she gasped. Her hands were trembling on the door knob.

Should she do it? What choice did she have? Would he really be -

Zoisite, tired of her taking so long, jerked the door open himself.

Ami took one look at him and nearly fainted. He was wearing nothing more than a towel – and a very loose one at that. His body was slender, but finely muscled and toned – and as nicely shaped (she was forced to note) as his face promised – and wet.

Her eyes bulged and she retreated instantly to the other side of the room.

Zoisite looked at her calmly, even a bit haughtily.

"I thought you wanted to come in?" he asked in a clipped tone, "I'm done now."

"You know," he continued, blithely unaware of her extreme discomfiture, "I haven't had a decent shower in five months – so you really shouldn't begrudge me a little extra quality time."

As he spoke he crossed lazily to the other side of the room, striding right up to her to get a better look at her. To his surprise she wouldn't meet his gaze, but seemed intent on the floor, her face red up to the roots of her blue hair.

"What, no sparkling riposte?" he asked, skeptically, "This is a new quirk. Or is it the cold treatment from last night?"

He reached out a bold finger to tilt her face up toward him and was surprised by her intensely closed eyes.

A light bulb finally lit up in his usually superb brain. The confused look on his face turned into one of pure, unadulterated mischief.

"Oh, come on now," he murmured, his normally light tenor becoming rather throaty, "you aren't bashful around me are you, Sailor Mercury?"

"I'm not in my fuku right now," she spat, her eyes still clenched shut.

"Just go away!"

He leaned in closer and breathed lightly on her forehead, ruffling her hair.

A totally different sensation seized her then, leaving her weak in the knees. More than ever she silently prayed to Hermes that Zoisite and his distracting person would disappear.

"After all," she heard him whisper gently, daring to trace her hair out of her face, "we did spend the whole night together."

Against her will, Ami let out a squeak. She couldn't see him of course, but Zoisite's eyes lit up ten fold at hearing this reaction – his grin went from mischievous to down right evil.

_Ohoho, _he thought, delightedly, _You are so dead now, Miss Heartless. Payback's a bitch._

Chuckling he put both hands on either side of her face and leaned in even closer, forcing her to open her eyes. That was when he lost track of what he was doing.

When her blue eyes fluttered open in shock, surprise – and something else – he felt himself trapped. There was something very mesmerizing about the utter tranquility of her gaze, despite her flustered appearance. It was...disturbingly familiar.

_A man could lose himself in those eyes._ He thought, suddenly. With an effort he snapped out of the trance, panicked by the strength of his own reactions.

All thoughts of a game with her were momentarily over. Instead, a healthy fear of the unknown and a weird sense of deja vu suddenly presented themsleves to Zoisite and made him completely sober.

"Bathroom's all yours," he muttered and hurriedly left her with her back up to the wall. He walked behind the screen and waited until she'd sprinted into the bathroom before he began to change into the civilian clothing Mamoru had provided for him.

_No playing around with that one, Zoi,_ he warned himself, solemnly.

_Much too dangerous...not to mention weird._

* * *

"She didn't sleep at all?" Jadeite asked, mildly surprised. 

Nephrite sipped some coffee and shook his head.

"She slept two hours," he continued, "she was up before I was – cheerful, chipper – you'd think she'd slept for days! I don't get it."

"Well at least you got some sleep last night," Jadeite replied sourly, "I barely got two hours – lady Jupiter needs some heavy sleeping medication, if you ask me."

Kunzite and Nephrite looked at him in surprise.

"I take it Miss Kino kept you up last night," Nephrite purred suggestively.

"Not like that, you over sexed idiot," his friend snapped.

"I was going to wait until later, but I feel I ought to say this now," Kunzite rejoined, sternly, "I cannot approve of any interactions between us and the Senshi that is anything more than professional. I will not tolerate the slightest deviance from this."

His tone was final but he needn't have bothered.

"I don't think there's any danger of that," Jadeite smirked, "they'd sooner kill us than kiss us."

"Sacred, I assure you," Nephrite murmured, dramatically.

Kunzite allowed himself a slight smile at their protestations.

"Well if you weren't up all night doing things you shouldn't have," Nephrite pursued, "then what were you doing?"

"I was trying to sleep and Lady Jupiter was..." Jadeite paused, looking slightly uncomfortable for the first time.

"She was...crying."

The two men blinked.

"Crying?" Nephrite asked, his brows snapping down, "Why? Don't tell me you go into a fight – I can't believe anyone could make that woman cry."

"No, no," Jadeite grimaced, "You don't understand. She has these nightmares, apparently, really...horrible ones...I think...about...children."

The men sat, staring at one another, utterly perplexed. Nephrite felt as though his chair had been knocked out from under him – the Jovian Senshi, so powerful and exuding strength with every movement – to think of this same woman weeping over a dream about a child; it was more than strange – it was mystifying.

"What did you do?" he asked.

Jadeite shrugged.

"I didn't do anything, I just tried to sleep."

Nephrite's face nearly fell on the floor.

"What do you mean you did nothing?" he demanded, "You insensitive wretch! That isn't how you treat a woman in obvious distress."

"Well what would you suggest, Cassanova?" Jadeite snarled, "Remember she isn't exactly fond of me, you know."

"Yes, but you could at least have had a little sympathy and asked her if you could help her," Nephrite argued, appalled and outraged at his friend's utter lack of chivalry.

"Well, if you're so smart why don't you live with her?"

"Better me than a man made of ice," Nephrite bit back.

He was beginning to find his own reactions to this conversation a little confusing. Why should he care so much? Was it the gentleman's instinct in him? He decided to take a breath and back off. It really wasn't that important.

Kunzite was looking at him speculatively – his silver eyes were vaguely troubled. He opened his mouth to say something when Makoto entered the room.

All of them were instantly silent and tense. Mako glanced at them as if they were mangy stray dogs.

"Have any of you seen Ami this morning?" she asked in a clipped tone, "She was supposed to meet me an hour ago, but she hasn't shown up yet."

"I think that might be my fault," Zoisite said, entering the room from the kitchen. His hair was still slightly damp and very curly.

Mako turned to him in surprise – he actually sounded genuinely apologetic.

"I took a little too long in the shower." he admitted.

"Why am I not surprised?" Mako muttered – but looking at Zoisite's contrite features, she almost felt like she was reprimanding a small boy instead of a Terran warrior. The feeling was rather odd and made her maternal instinct vie sharply with her protective one – an uncomfortable sensation.

"Ami never takes longer than five minutes," Mako explained, "so even if you took an hour long shower -"

"Which I did." he added.

"An hour?" she stared incredulously. "Do you have any idea how scarce water is with so many people overcrowding the city already?"

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, turning red, and looking more and more like a naughty little boy caught in the act of making a mess.

Mako didn't know whether to laugh at him or slap him. She wanted to do both.

"Please keep the resources of the city and the well fare of other people in mind next time," Kunzite suggested quietly.

Zoisite nodded curtly.

"Anyway," Mako said, "that still doesn't account for why -"

Her communicator went off.

She snapped it open and heard Ami's whispered voice.

"Jupiter, I've found the man who attacked Mars yesterday...but I'm going to need back up – he's got two more people with him and I -" there was an odd, rustling sound and then a shout in the distance.

"Uh -oh," Ami said.

"Where are you!?" Mako demanded.

"The mall -" her voice was cut off suddenly. The communicator went dead.

Mako put it away and, without regard for the presence of the men, changed into Sailor Jupiter right in front of them.

When the flash of light was over she found four very dumbfounded men staring at her. One with a particular glint in his eye.

She rolled her eyes at the perversity of mankind and ran out of the room.

The men blinked at one another.

"That was.." Jadeite began.

"Absolutely..." Nephrite breathed.

"Do you think they all look like that?" Zoisite asked, hopefully.

"Undoubtedly," Kunzite finished, grimly, "But as I said before I will not tolerate -"

"Is this the old 'keep it professional speech'?" Zoisite asked.

"Just get going," Kunzite sighed, and stood up.

"Wait," Jadeite asked, standing, "we're going to help them?"

Kunzite turned a forbidding, cold eye on his subordinate.

"But we don't have our powers," Zoisite wavered, "won't we just be in the way?"

Kunzite's mouth formed a thin line. The men jumped to attention and followed as he ran out after Sailor Jupiter.

"He does realize we don't have any powers," Zoisite panted to Nephrite.

"Since when have we needed powers?" Nephrite quipped, "Just run, or we'll miss all the action."

For the first time in a long time, the Shitennou were beginning to feel excited.

* * *

"What's that you have there, Vulcan?" a cheerful voice asked. 

A young man with red eyes, and black hair that spiked up like a hedgehog (tinged with red at the tips) held Sailor Mercury in his grasp, dangling her in front of him.

"It's another one of those strange looking soldiers," Vulcan replied in a low, husky voice. The sound of anger and derision in his tone sent chills up Ami's spine.

"I am Sailor Mercury," she managed to get out, "I demand you unhand me at once."

"Shut up, you!" Vulcan growled, and shook her for good measure.

"Whoa, whoa!" the other man called as he stalked to their side. Ami saw that he was taller, with shorter white hair and blue eyes, his expression was very benign and friendly. Like his companion he wore a long tunic-like robe and pants – though his collar was carelessly unbuttoned – revealing his nicely muscled chest and quite a lot of accessories as well as an odd, black tattoo.

The tattoo reminded Ami of something – but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Aw, she's pretty cute," the white haired man said. Vulcan scowled.

"Tell us where the crystal is!" he commanded.

The crystal? Ami wondered. Are they after the ginzuishou? She kept her lips closed and prayed that Mako would soon arrive. She waited for Vulcan to look away before kicking him squarely between the legs and muttering:

"Shabon Spray!"

Instantly the dense fog permeated the street and she rolled away. Only to find herself in the clutches of a pair of iron arms.

"I've got her," a snippy voice called by her ear.

"Great!" the white haired man shouted, "Hold on just a second."

She heard a whirring noise – like a helicopter's blade, and then watched, nonplussed, as her fog was blown away by the white haired man.

He wielded a long, golden staff which he'd used like a fan to get rid of her fog. She now faced his cheerful face and Vulcan's furious expression.

"Let me kill her," he growled fiercely, sounding like a wild animal.

"Not so fast, Vul," the man who held her said in a disapproving tone, "Why must you always be so quick to act and so slow to think. Honestly, it really is ridiculous. This is exactly why you let the other one slip through your fingers. Every time -"

"Uh, bro?" the white haired man smirked, "Save the lecture for another time."

The man holding Ami shut his lips smartly but she could hear him grumbling about duty, brains and wasted time.

_Have I been defeated by the Three Stooges?_ She wondered. She set about trying think of another way to free herself.

"Now, Vulcan, why don't you go cool down, and let me and Hype handle this?"

The younger man snarled and flashed heated red eyes at Ami that promised all manner of ugly vengeance, but he did as he was told.

"Hey, baby," the white haired man said, "My name's Titan – and the handsome stud with his arms around you is my twin brother, Hyperion. So don't worry – cause you're in good hands."

He snickered at his own joke. Mercury rolled her eyes, and felt Hyperion sigh.

"Just get on with it," he snapped, releasing Mercury. As soon as she felt herself free she powered up for an attack but realized there was a bubble around her, preventing her from reaching either man. She was trapped.

She turned to see her captor. True to form, his face was almost identical to the one who called himself Titan – they were the same height and build - but Hyperion's hair was as golden as Mina's and his eyes were violet like Rei's. He held a small, golden flute-like instrument that she later realized had created the bubble around her.

The twins eyed her speculatively – Hyperion as though she were a rare type of beetle, and Titan as though he was wondering what she looked like without -

Mercury's face became dark.

"What do you want!?" she demanded, "Why do you want this crystal?"

The twins looked sharply at each other and then back to her.

"That's none of your business, just tell us where it is and we won't be forced to exterminate you." Hyperion snapped.

"Sorry, sweetheart," Titan added, his grin turning a bit evil, "but the man's serious."

"I don't know what you're talking about." she declared.

The twins expressions grew sour.

"Tell us now, baby, or I'm going to have to mess up that pretty face of yours," Titan pronounced, his tone still eerily cheerful.

Mercury's heart was beating very fast. Trapped in the bubble her attacks could do no good, and she really had no intention of telling them anything about the ginzuishou – who knew what they wanted to do with it?

"Alright, you were warned," Hyperion's purple eyes were harsh and cold as he raised his flute to his lips.

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"

Titan jumped to the side at the last minute but Hyperion wasn't as lucky and was thrown by Jupiter's attack into a nearby building.

The bubble around Mercury instantly burst.

She whirled around to find Jupiter sprinting toward her, already powering up for another attack.

"Duck!" she screamed and Mercury threw herself on the ground as another huge bolt of electricity went sailing over her head to collide with Vulcan.

"What the hell is this!?" Titan yelled, looking at his fallen comrades in dismay. He turned back to Sailor Jupiter with a nasty grin.

"You're gonna pay for that!" he vowed and whipped his staff over his head creating a wind so strong it blew Jupiter to the ground and dragged her for several feet.

Mercury was already up and running to Jupiter's side. As the other girl sat up stiffly Mercury dragged them both down again while a tornado like wind began to whip around them. They grabbed onto the bench that'd been bolted to the sidewalk and held on for dear life.

"Who are these guys?" Jupiter yelled above the roar of the wind.

"I don't' know!" Mercury replied, "But they're after the crystal!"

"Shit!"

Mercury would have nodded, but the wind was dragging her out of Jupiter's grip.

"Damn it!" the taller girl swore and tried to wrap her arms more tightly around her friend – the wind proved too strong for both of them and ripped Mercury from Jupiter's arms.

Jupiter watched in horror as Mercury went sailing into the air toward the high rise behind her. She waited for the crash but it never came.

As the wind stopped – even Titan seemed slightly exhausted by the amount of energy he'd spent creating it – Jupiter loosened her grip on the bench and looked back. She froze in shock.

Walking calmly toward her was Kunzite, still dressed in civilian clothing, and in his arms – safe and sound – was Mercury.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she blurted out.

"We're helping," Zoisite snapped, "What does it look like?"

He would have said more but Nephrite suddenly jumped in front of Jupiter and dragged her to the ground as the rest ducked. A bolt of something like hot magma crashed into the light pole behind them all and melted through the metal like butter. Still holding Jupiter firmly in his grip, Nephrite rolled out of the way of the falling lamp.

Jupiter lifted her head and realized she was sprawled underneath him. Her face turned bright red and she shoved him off of her unceremoniously – which took some strength as he was much larger and denser than she.

"Ouch," he mumbled, "No need to be so abrupt, I swear you are the touchiest woman -"

"Don't ever do that again!" she commanded, her emotions and feelings suddenly in a tumult – embarrassment being the main ring leader.

"Don't save your life?" he asked, pointedly.

"Whatever," she growled, "I don't need your help to do my job."

"You're welcome," he sighed as he watched her lurch to her feet and let loose a bolt of electricity without even looking.

Vulcan had recovered sufficiently from the first of Jupiter's attacks to recognize the second and rolled out of the way, firing another glob of magma at her from a long hammer-like scepter.

"Tell us where the crystal is!" he shrieked. His bolt caught her leg as she dodged it and seared through her boot – burning her calf and ankle. With a cry of pain she limped away and fell hard onto the ground.

"Mercury Aqua Rhaspsody!" Mercury cried, trying desperately to stand in between both Jupiter and the Shitennou in a bid to keep both of them safe. Her attack cooled the stream of magma flowing straight toward her and made it fall with a thud onto the ground – as a solid ball of hardened rock.

"Well that solves that problem," she murmured.

"Mercury, look out!" She heard someone call then felt herself tugged to the side behind a wiry body as a tremendous, hail and magma filled wind scorched the earth where she'd been standing.

When she opened her eyes she found herself staring at Zoisite's back. His clothes were a bit tattered and his hair singed, he also seemed rather unsteady on his feet.

"Are you alright!?" she gasped, alarmed.

"I'm fine," he managed, though his teeth were gritted in pain.

"Just a little to close for comfort." He added as Titan and Vulcan squinted into the smoke their last attack had created.

"Shabon Spray!" Mercury shouted and let loose her thickest fog.

Knowing it wouldn't last long with Titan's wind attacks, she grabbed Zoisite's hand and fumbled to where a figure was crouching protectively by Sailor Jupiter.

"Jupiter?" she hissed.

"I'm ok," the other Senshi's voice was weak, "I don't think I can walk very well though."

She heard a hiss of pain as she accidentally brushed Jupiter's leg.

"We need to get you out of here," she whispered, "Can you lift her?"

Nephrite nodded.

"Wait," Jupiter interrupted, "Where's the other two?"

Mercury tried to peer through her own fog. Kunzite and Jadeite were missing.

"I hope they're alright," she surprised herself by saying.

"They're fine," Zoisite muttered, almost cheerfully, "with or without powers, no one gets the better of Kunzite."

Mercury thought this was rather doubtful, but she held her tongue. There were more important matters at hand – like the fact that her fog was dissipating in the whirling wind.

"I'm really not impressed by the full extent of your powers, Sailor Mercury!" Titan's playful voice called.

"If this is the best you can do, you might as well give up no-" he was cut off suddenly in mid sentence.

Mercury heard a thud. She, Jupiter and the two men all huddled together, Zoisite and Nephrite unconsciously putting themselves in front of the senshi.

"If you don't want your companion to die in the next two seconds, I suggest you drop your weapons immediately," a cool, commanding voice rang clearly in the fading fog.

"Told you so."

Nephrite grinned at Zoisite. No one defeated their leader.

"There's no way-" Jupiter began, but stopped short when she saw through the evaporating mist Kunzite's tall figure standing behind Titan, holding the other man in a vice-like head lock – his taught muscles more than ready to break the attacker's neck.

Jadeite similarly held an inert and confused Hyperion (who hadn't quite recovered from being blown into a building) having kicked his flute well out of reach.

"Let them go!" Vulcan snarled, his hand beginning to glow a faint orange.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you," Jadeite warned him.

Kunzite's arms tightened around Titan's neck – the trapped man gave out a moan. Mercury realized he was nearly suffocated.

Vulcan eyed the two men for a full minute, hate and rage seething off of him almost visibly.

Finally he tossed his scepter to the ground and held up his hands, no longer glowing.

"Now, you are going to answer our questions," Kunzite said, calmly.

"First of all, why are you here?"

Vulcan remained silent, glaring balefully at the Shitennou.

"I'll repeat only once more," Kunzite said, "why are you here?"

Titan gave a gurgled gasp, his lips were turning blue.

Vulcan opened his mouth when there was a shriek from the opposite side of the street. Everyone turned to look in the direction of the sound, though Kunzite and Jadeite were careful not let their victims go.

"Venus!" Mercury and Jupiter chorused.

To their horror their leader was being held with one arm by a man in a long white cape. He held a knife up to her throat where a tiny trickle of blood was welling.

The man carefully walked toward them with Venus until he was within about five feet from the assembled group.

"Hello," the new man said, "I happened to find your lovely companion on her way to assist you and ah – well, as you can see – I simply had to ask her to accompany me."

"Let her go!" Jupiter screamed, forgetting her wounded foot and trying to leap up. She instantly crumpled back down as Nephrite caught her.

"Ow."

"Just sit still," Nephrite hissed in her ear.

"If you harm my Senshi, or these men," Venus called out, careful not to move too much under the blade, "I swear I'll gut you like a fish!"

"Tsk, tsk, now children, let's let the grown-ups talk."

They were surprised by the new comer's utterly nonchalant tone of voice.

He was obviously a bit older than his three companions and had long turquoise hair that was braided neatly down his back. His eyes were honey gold and his face was very attractive- and also rather bored.

"I am Apollo, the leader of this rag-tag army of miscreants whom you see before you. I do hate to interrupt your pleasant meeting with my men, but I'm afraid we've overstayed our welcome here. At least for today. So if you don't mind, sir," he addressed Kunzite politely, "I'll ask you to release my second in command."

Kunzite struggled with the order, but as he caught Venus' flashing blue eyes he felt her fighting spirit struggling with situation as hard as he was. It made him smile suddenly.

"I'll release your man as soon as you release Sailor Venus."

The man who called himself Apollo sighed.

"Well this is tiresome," he complained, "how do I know you won't kill him as soon as I set her free?"

"I'll count," Jadeite volunteered. He jerked the nearly inert Hyperion up by his tunic and walked toward Apollo, Venus and Vulcan slowly.

"One," he counted.

"Very well," Apollo sighed, lowering his knife by a fraction.

"Two," Jadeite continued to walk toward the men.

Apollo removed his arm from around Venus' waist, as Kunzite loosed his grip on Titan's throat.

"Three!" Jadeite yelled, tossing Hyperion at Vulcan so fast the other man had to catch Hyperion with both hands to keep them both from falling to the ground.

Apollo whipped his sword away from Venus' neck and pushed her away from him as he grabbed for Titan's arm. Kunzite thrust Titan toward Apollo, and knelt to catch Venus as she stumbled toward the ground.

"Now!" Apollo yelled, but Mercury had foreseen this bit of treachery and together she and Jupiter unleashed their attacks simultaneously.

"Shabon Spray!"

"Flower Hurricane!"

The mist and blinding light gave the Senshi and Shitennou cover to escape relatively unscathed as the confused quartet tried to find their bearings, releasing attacks at random through the confusion.

Nephrite scooped Jupiter into his arms and began running as hard as he could for the nearest alley, following Kunzite who was grasping Venus' hand in a death grip. Zoisite, Mercury and Jadeite followed in the rear, checking to make sure the four men weren't following them.

As they all paused in the alleyway for breath, Venus whirled around and broke her hand away from Kunzite's.

"What is the meaning of this?" she hissed angrily, "Why are you four here? I specifically told you to stay out of the way."

"All due respect," Jadeite panted, "but if we hadn't been here you would be the last Senshi left."

"Is this true?" Venus confronted her warriors. Jupiter's face turned red.

"Yeah," she scowled, pointedly not looking at the man who was holding her at present.

Nephrite chuckled anyway.

"We owe them our lives," Mercury said softly, her eyes wide as she looked at her commander.

Venus was effectively silenced. She looked at the Shitennou in awe.

"Well," she spluttered at last, raising an absent hand to trace the thin cut on her neck, "thank you."

Kunzite bowed slightly.

"Our pleasure, Sailor Venus," he replied quietly, "but I think in the interest of Zoisite and Sailor Jupiter, we had best find a hospital."

Mercury turned to look at Zoisite with a gasp. She saw to her dismay that he had received quite a number of burns on his chest and arms as a result of shielding her from the blast of the double attack.

"I'm so sorry," she cried, putting a hand to her mouth, then reaching out tentatively to tug his shredded shirt down.

"Whoa!" he objected, wincing, "You don't have to be that grateful."

Instantly her expression went from concerned to exasperated and offended.

"I'm trying to assess the damage done," she replied sharply, "kindly sit still and submit."

Zoisite sucked in a breath as her gentle fingers explored his arms and chest for other wounds.

"You heard what she said," Nephrite grinned behind Mercury's back and over Jupiter's head.

"Submit."

"Got to hell," Zoisite muttered murderously, earning a sharp pinch from Mercury.

"I don't mean to interrupt but an alley isn't the best place for a medical examination," Jadeite suggested.

Mercury snapped her head away, faintly blushing.

"Oh, of course, I'm sorry," she stuttered, "I just wanted to be sure -"

"It's alright," Venus interrupted, with a strange, considering look in her eyes, "Let's just get moving before those goons come back."

_Are the Shitennou actually flirting with my Senshi?_ She thought, astounded.

No, it was preposterous, she had to be mistaken. She and Kunzite led the way out of the alley toward the hospital.

"By the way," she said in a low tone, as she and the silver haired man walked side by side.

"Thank you."

Kunzite only nodded briefly in acknowledgment of her words.


	7. Curiosity and Friendship

_The Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter Six: Curiosity and Friendship**

* * *

Mina had just finished a stack of papers for the make-shift formation of a ministry of defense. Her eyes hurt, her head was pounding, and her back was killing her. She turned off the light in the room, leaving only a lamp to light it with a soft glow. 

Across the room she saw Nephrite stretched sideways on his cot, watching the stars outside her window.

"Are you going to bed now?" he asked without looking at her.

She repressed the urge to hurl him out of the room. Senshi of Venus though she was, she did not relish the idea of spending a night alone with this strange, albeit attractive man, whose very presence reminded her of the danger of being a Senshi.

She flopped onto her bed and picked up a book.

"No, I never go to bed before five."

She heard a rustling and looked over to find Nephrite staring at her.

"When do you have to be up?" he asked, disbelievingly.

"Seven." she replied.

"Surely this isn't healthy?"

His concerned tone only infuriated her further.

"I don't question you about your personal habits, how about you show the same courtesy to me?" she suggested thinly.

He caught her mood and turned away with a shrug to look out the window again.

If she didn't sleep, she didn't dream. And if she didn't dream she didn't have to see her dead parents and she didn't have to miss them. That was a simple fact she adhered to.

She felt very frustrated – perhaps more frustrated than she'd ever been in her life. Against all probability the Shitennou had personally saved her life that day. It caused feelings of guilt, gratitude and plain confusion.

Mina flipped a few pages in her book, bored and dull minded already but no closer to sleep or peace than she had been any previous night.

"What are you looking at?" she asked at last.

"I thought we weren't going to question each other's personal habits," he replied, humorlessly.

"Just answer the question, damn it," she muttered.

He sighed and folded a hand under his head.

"I'm looking at the stars," he said at last. The sadness in his voice made her curious. She turned to glance at him, piercingly.

"Why?"

"Because..." he paused for a moment, "I just like to look at them."

"Huh," she huffed.

She didn't believe this stupid reply, but she could tell she probably wouldn't get anything else out of him – and she wasn't that interested anyway.

She read on in silence for many minutes, gradually almost managing to forget that he was there.

"I used to be able...to speak to them," he whispered softly, more to himself than to her.

Mina looked up from her book, drowsily.

"Speak to them?" she asked, "What on Earth do you mean?"

"I could communicate with them," he went on in the same dreamy tone, "as clearly as I'm speaking to you now. They knew things, secrets, that they shared only with me..."

"That's weird," Mina commented, acerbically. This new quirk of her roommates' wasn't a welcome one by any means.

_Not only is he potentially evil, but he's a loony too. Great!_

Nephrite remained silent for so long, Mina was sure she had deeply offended him with her last remark.

She felt a twinge of guilt.

"Uh, you know, Rei – I mean, Sailor Mars, sometimes does fire readings," she offered grudgingly – though she didn't feel this information was harmful for him to know she still didn't like discussing her friend's true identity with anyone other than Senshi.

"Is that so?" His voice sounded merely bored and polite. His back was to her so she couldn't tell how he felt from his facial expressions, but the rigidity in his shoulder blades told her that she had hit a nerve.

_Why must they be so sensitive? _She grumped.

_And built like young gods, _her mind added treacherously as she watched the muscles of his back flex as he lowered his head.

_Oh no, Aino, _she thought, _we are not going down that old road – especially not with these men!_

She was pissed at herself for her ridiculous reaction to a male presence. She harshly repressed this part of herself and centered her thoughts on soldierly business. Like how to go about protecting Usagi and the Senshi from the newest threat.

Nephrite's even breathing clued her in to his state of slumber. Somehow in his sleep, she noted, he looked far less like a Dark Kingdom general, and far more like an innocent man, if there was such a thing.

She almost felt...sorry for him.

_How is it possible!?_ She growled mentally.

_How can men who risked their lives to save us be the same men who – god knows why – sold their souls to a demon more than a million years ago? I don't get it!_

She dismissed these feelings fiercely and buried her head in her book. She had to find a way to unlock the past – obviously Usagi's methods weren't working in their efforts to become allies with the Shitennou. And if Mina knew her women, they would be no closer to a cease fire five weeks from now.

She considered what the Shitennou had told her about being bonded to Beryl. So their second betrayal had been involuntary – that she could believe and understand since their personalities were completely different from what they had been six years ago. But the reason they had defected in the first place was still a mystery. She had to know! And they were likely the only ones who could tell her that secret – yet they didn't remember it themselves. She racked her brains for an answer.

A gentle snore alerted her to the fact that Nephrite was now deeply asleep.

Sleeping the sleep of babies. Drat him! A former traitor could sleep like an angel while she would be lucky to get two hours. Her headaches would be worse in the morning – it would be harder to focus on work. If only the ginzuishou could cure headaches – she thought, wryly.

Suddenly her eyes snapped back open.

"That's it!" she exclaimed to herself in an excited whisper. For the first time in a long time, she felt relieved enough to fall asleep earlier than five in the morning.

* * *

Makoto was whimpering in her sleep again. 

_Everywhere she looked...destruction. A giant jumbo jet cut in half and lying inside a ruined building. Bodies lay everywhere with the mark of death on their faces – an not a tranquil death – a horrible one._

Jadeite winced as he heard the woman tossing and turning, moaning about dead faces.

_She knew what would come next. With everything in her she tried to resist going to the plane where it rested haphazardly on its side like a dead bird. Nononononono...she thought frantically. Her hands reached out of their own accord and pulled back the damaged, ripped hull._

Jadeite sat bolt upright. Makoto was screaming her head off.

"I can't stand this anymore," he hissed to himself. He didn't care what time it was, he was getting some sleep tonight and crazy woman be damned.

He threw the sheets off of him and jerked the door open, exiting to the hall and walking with careful tread to a door at the end of it.

He didn't bother knocking, he simply opened it and went in. Using his honed skills he silently approached the gently slumbering occupant of the bed by the window.

Hooking one hand around the man's mouth he leaned over and whispered:

"Get the hell up!"

Nephrite started awake, jerking Jadeite into a hold. The two of them wrestled silently for a moment until neither could move without breaking his neck.

"You'd still be dead," Jadeite whispered, smugly.

"So what?" Nephrite hissed, "What the hell did you wake me up for? And it better not be so you could tell me you're the better assassin."

"I need your help," Jadeite admitted, "Let's go outside so we don't wake sleeping beauty."

Mina was lying indecorously sprawled on her back, choked in her sheets.

"Cute." Nephrite whispered appreciatively, "Kinda looks like a kitten."

Jadeite frogged him in the shoulder and he had to bite his tongue to keep from making any noise.

Once they were safely in the hall Nephrite rubbed his shoulder and eyed Jadeite with displeasure.

"I can't sleep," Jadeite began, "-"

"Funny, I have the same problem."

"Spare me," he continued, "Jupiter's having nightmares again and -"

"You just left her!?" Nephrite almost spoke too loudly.

"What is your problem?" He demanded, "It's not like you're shy with women -"

"It's not that!" Jadeite hissed angrily, "Why do you always have to drag libido into the equation?"

"Because it's almost always the answer," Nephrite replied, blandly.

"Well not this time; this time I cannot sleep unless something is done."

Nephrite merely stared at the blond, wild eyed man before him in utter amazement.

"Sometimes I'd swear you were a robot."

Nephrite shook his head.

"Oh, Makoto!" He said suddenly in surprise.

Jadeite whipped his head around and Nephrite took the opportunity to frog him viciously in the back.

"Shit!" His companion whimpered.

"Suck it up," Nephrite snarled.

As they approached the room Jadeite slowed down, listening.

Mako was no longer screaming, but instead had switched to whimpering and sobbing. He shivered involuntarily and glanced bravely at Nephrite.

"She's all yours," he whispered, patting the other man on the back and then shoving him into the room.

Nephrite found himself confronted with perhaps the biggest challenge of his career: a distraught, apparently man-hating Senshi in the throws of an emotional break down.

He sighed.

"The things I do for my friends," he muttered.

Cautiously, wetting his lips nervously, he walked toward the bed and very gently placed a hand on Mako's shoulder.

"Miss Kino," he whispered, "Wake up."

Mako only moaned and crunched her pillow closer to her. She looked very young and vulnerable as she cried into her pillow, very much like what he imagined she must have looked as a child. Without thinking he brushed an auburn curl off of her heated, wet face.

She seemed to calm down at his touch. He frowned and decided to change tactics.

He sat gingerly beside her on the bed, praying now that she wouldn't wake up. If she caught him on her bed – he didn't like to think of the white hot death he was courting.

He stroked her hair back from her face and then resorted to stroking her hair in a slow, steady rhythm. Soon she stopped crying, her whimpering ceased and he watched as her breathing slowed.

It was truly amazing, he reflected, how the human body was comforted by touch. He caught himself yawning.

He relaxed back onto the bed gently, propping himself up on one elbow and continued to stroke Makoto's hair with the other.

_Really quite beautiful_, he thought sleepily, _like russet silk_.

Mako sighed suddenly and he smiled.

_I guess the Senshi aren't as tough as they'd have us believe._

_Not this one, anyway._

He stifled another yawn and continued to smooth her hair and back.

* * *

"Usagi!" 

Five political leaders, a king and a queen turned startled glances toward the interruption.

"Mina?" Mamoru asked, blinking at the sight of the effervescent blond poking her head into the meeting room, smiling like a clown.

"Oh," she gasped, "sorry, I didn't realize you had a meeting today."

"Do you need something, Mina-chan? I mean, Miss Aino," Usagi blundered.

"Uh, I can wait," she said, turning red as the dignitaries eyed her with disfavor.

"Well if it will only take a minute I might as well help you now," Usagi pointed out, rising from her chair and walking to the end of the room, "I'm in meetings all day."

"Oh."

Mina poked her head back out and fanned her face. Usagi soon popped her head around the door.

"Thanks," she whispered to Mina with a wink, "I was about to fall asleep again – this meeting stuff is soooo boring."

_Well, she hasn't changed that much,_ Mina admitted.

"What's on your mind?"

"I need you to do something for me," Mina said excitedly, "but I don't think you'll like it."

"It's not illegal, is it?" Usagi asked, surprised.

"No, no, nothing like that," her friend assured her, "just, a little unusual."

"See, I was thinking last night about how much I wish I had my Silver Millennium memories back -"

"I think we all are -"

"Yeah, well I was wondering if there was a way to jog them so they'd hurry up," Mina continued, "and then I got this brilliant idea!"

She gazed at Usagi with sparkling blue eyes.

"Remember when Beryl caught Mamoru and he couldn't remember you until the ginzuishou touched him with its light?" she said hurriedly.

Usagi nodded.

"Well, I want you to attack me with the ginzuishou!" Mina finished grandly.

"You – what!?" Usagi shrieked.

"Come on! Just whip it out and hit me with it," Mina urged, "I can take it."

"No!" Usagi declared, her eyes wide with shock, "It might hurt you!"

"No it won't," Mina explained patiently, "it'll restore my memories – I know it!"

Usagi looked skeptical.

"I don't know," she wavered, "it might do something else to you – even I don't know much about it – I mean, I really don't even know how to make it work without just wishing."

"Just try it once, Usa," Mina begged, "Just once, and if it doesn't work I won't ask you again, I promise. Come on, please..."

Mina gave her princess the best, most pathetic look she could muster. Usagi flinched away and tried to remain firm, but Mina's eyes melted her and she sighed.

"Alright, come on."

She grabbed Mina's hand and the two of them trotted off to her room. Usagi shut the door and hunted around in the mess that was her bedroom.

"Found it!" she called and transformed.

"Ok, I'm going to do this by the book," she said, "just in case something goes wrong."

She pointed her scepter at Mina, unconsciously squinting her eyes tight as she chanted:

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

Instantly Mina, who had braced herself regardless of her brave words, was enveloped in an iridescent light that filled every corner of her being. She felt all vestiges of anger, depression, grief for her parents, stress from her work, even loneliness suddenly melt away and evaporate like dew. In their place an intense and abiding joy filled her to overflowing. She felt her heart release and swell – her mind cleansed and shining – all of its dark crannies were swept clear and laid bare to her. She felt a loosening sensation as thousands of memories flooded her mind like a waterfall.

Flashes of vistas untold appeared in her mind's sight – a shining world of lights and beauty – Venus – the Silver Millennium – the planetary princesses – the prince of Earth – her vow to become the princess's guardian – the arrival of the Shitennou – silver eyes – balls and parties and battles and masks – a tall, silver haired man – a choice – a dark young woman – love – hate – jealousy – passion – a terrible mistake – the final attack – her dying world – a brilliant light – and then...nothing.

It was almost too much to hold in – if the light weren't so gentle she would have shattered into a thousand pieces.

She slowly opened her eyes and found two pairs of blue eyes watching her worriedly.

"She's coming around," Ami pronounced.

"Wow," Mina breathed. She thought she heard a familiar voice chuckle, but it might have been only a memory. Her head was reeling.

"I told you not to do that!" Usagi blubbered, unsure of whether to clobber Mina or hug her.

"But it worked!" Mina gasped, opening her eyes wide in wonder.

"I can remember!"

Ami looked at her sharply.

"You can?" she asked.

Mina was gasping in delight, smiling crazily at Usagi and Ami.

"The Silver Millennium, the Moon Kingdom, the Shitennou," she crowed, "I remember it all!"

"You remember us?" the familiar voice asked, and a pair of silver eyes leaned into her view above her head, which was supported on Usagi's lap.

The smile died on Mina's lips and in her eyes when she saw Kunzite. Her face suddenly flushed a brilliant red and her heart leaped into her throat.

_Oh my god!_ She thought – her mind almost refused to work in the onslaught of her memories connected with this man.

"What's wrong, Mina?" Ami demanded, putting a hand to Mina's head, "Are you ill?"

Mina shook her head dumbly, still staring at Kunzite who was beginning to look less amused and more worried.

"Can it be that you..remembered something..unpleasant?" he asked, quietly.

_How can I tell them?_ She realized with a sick feeling.

_How can I tell a man I don't know that I've been in love with him for eons?_

She swallowed hard and wrenched her eyes away from his face to turn to Ami.

But Ami's face brought up the memory of another Shitennou.

Mina gasped again and turned pale.

"Mina, what's wrong?" Ami asked, with real concern.

_Ami and ...oh gods, why did I ever want my memories back!?_ She wailed.

"Reverse it!" she squeaked, squeezing her eyes shut.

"I think she's just in a bit of shock," Ami told the other two, "Nothing serious."

"And," she added, in a displeased tone, "It's much less than you deserve. I don't know what you two were thinking – but the ginzuishou isn't a toy."

"Yes, Ami," Usagi said meekly.

"Let's see if we can get her back to her room."

Kunzite knelt and lifted Mina easily in his arms to follow the other two women, but he halted when he heard Mina hiss sharply and tense up.

"Are you in pain?" he asked, confused.

"N-no," Mina gurgled, willing herself to relax into his arms and trying desperately to ignore what her body was telling her.

_Why did I ever think this was a good idea?_

* * *

"Mamoru?" 

Mamoru looked up from his book. He was sitting in the basement game room of the house they all shared – a place he'd set aside as his personal study. But the remnants of a game room still persisted in the form of a pool table and cue rack, and a small indoor swimming pool – sitting side by side with his desk and shelves full of books – and of course, his comfy chair.

But the quiet of his study had been interrupted, as well as his thoughts, by a brunette head in the doorway.

"Nephrite?" Mamoru asked.

"Uh," the Shitennou edged through the door and took a look at study.

"Nice place you have here," he commented, smiling.

"Thanks."

Mamoru continued to look at him speculatively.

"I was just...wondering if we could...hang out."

Mamoru blinked.

It had been a long time since anyone, let alone a man his own age, had made that suggestion. Having come from a long day of arguing politely with people twice his age about how to solve the problems of too few resources and overcrowding, as well as convening briefly with the head of defense (namely, Mina) about the newest enemies, this simple request seemed surreal.

"Sure." he said.

Nephrite smiled, hesitantly.

He took up a chair opposite Mamoru and crossed his legs.

"How did your day go?"

"Same as usual." Mamoru smiled wanly.

"Yeah," Nephrite laughed, running a hand through his long hair, "things haven't changed much."

Mamou looked at him in confusion.

"Since the Silver Millennium, I mean," Nephite added, hastily, "From what I remember you were almost always tied up in meetings, foreign policy and negotiations, seemed like we never had time to just relax."

Mamoru was silent for a moment, then he removed his reading glasses and tucked them in his pocket.

"Let's not talk about the Silver Millennium," he said, quietly, "Tell me about your life in this time."

"What do you want to know?"

Mamoru shrugged and put a hand to his lips, consideringly.

"Tell me about your family, what were they like?"

Nephrite looked down at his hands, his hair creating a bit of a shield between him and Mamoru.

"My parents were business owners - you know that franchise for bridal gowns? The one with the rose and the lily as a logo."

Mamoru nodded, impressed – it had been a very wealthy company before the plague came.

"They owned it, so we never needed money or anything. I was an only child, so they spoiled me like crazy."

Mamoru caught him smiling.

"Uh, I met Jadeite in High School, he was a year younger than me," Nephrite looked up at the ceiling and stretched his hands behind his head.

"That wasn't his name – but that's the first thing Beryl took from us," he added, frowning at the skylight, "our names."

"Did you remember each other?" Mamoru asked

"No, we just knew that we felt really comfortable with each other – we were best friends even after I graduated. I had enrolled in the university – I was an undecided major, but I think I would have liked to have been a therapist."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Nephrite grinned, "Don't laugh, but I think I really do have a talent for it. Anyway – Jadeite was going to go to the same school as me, of course he knew what he wanted to do -"

"Which was -"

"Foreign diplomacy."

Mamoru and Nephrite turned to see Jadeite and Zoisite standing in the doorway.

"Mind if we join you?"

"Not at all." Mamoru smiled.

Jadeite uncrossed his arms and sauntered into the room to sit on the patched leather couch, Zoisite sat gracefully beside him.

"So, you were reminiscing about life before the Dark Kingdom, huh?" the older blond asked.

"Yes, Nephrite was telling me about the two of you in high school – he said you wanted to go to the same university."

"Oh, yeah," Jadeite smiled, "we did. We had some big dreams then and we did end up in the same university: the University of the Dark Kingdom – death and destruction 101."

Nephrite sighed.

"Ignore his bitterness," he spoke up, "Jade's been like that his whole life. And it only get's worse when he goes without -"

Jadeite threw a pillow at Nephrite, hitting him squarely in the face.

"You're so violent," Zoisite complained, "Don't mind them, Mamoru, they're always like this. We can't take them anywhere."

"You sound like my mother," Jadeite sneered.

"Tell me about your mother," Mamoru requested.

Jadeite turned slightly startled, mistrustful eyes toward Mamoru, but he took a breath.

"She was a mean old harpy," he pronounced, "She beat me if I didn't make the highest grade in my classes, and she wouldn't let me have any friends besides the ones she picked out. And we weren't as rich as everyone else at my school – so we had to pretend to be as rich. I hated it."

"But you didn't hate her." Nephrite pointed out.

"I never said that," the other man snapped, but he didn't deny it.

Mamoru let out a sharp breath, like a laugh.

"What was your dad like?"

"He died before I was born," Jadeite replied, "Wisest thing he could have done."

Mamoru blinked.

"I -" Jadeite stuttered, seeing the look on the prince's face, "I didn't mean it exactly like that -"

"Yes, you did, you heartless guttersnipe."

"What the hell did you just call me?"

"What about you, Zoisite?" Mamoru turned to the younger man who was watching the other two bickering.

"My parents were perfectly wonderful," Zoisite declared, "my mother was an angel and my dad was never around long enough to get on my nerves or in my way."

"Plus," he added, smugly, "I am a genius so school was a breeze."

"You are?" Mamoru asked, the surprise on his face was both insulting and comical.

"He totally doesn't believe you!" Nephrite laughed, covering his mouth.

Jadeite smirked.

Zoisite's face turned red.

"I am a genius!" he cried, "I can prove it – I was tested a million times as a child, I graduated high school at the age of fourteen! I was in my second year of college before these two knew what the periodic table was for."

"Oh my god," Nephrite chuckled, "When you flip your hair around like that you look just like a spazy ferret."

Jadeite and Nephrite exploded into laughter, and even Mamoru found himself chuckling at this accurate description.

Zoisite only got angrier.

"I could out think both of you with my eyes closed!" he screamed.

"What is all this commotion?" a cool voice asked.

As if they'd been hit by a bucket of water the other three men instantly sobered. Mamoru looked up, unsurprised to see Kunzite's tall frame.

"They're picking on me!" Zoisite exclaimed.

Kunzite's expression didn't changed, instead he surveyed the room and the seating arrangements, arched a silver eyebrow at Nephrite and sat comfortably in the chair the other man hastily vacated.

Nephrite squeezed himself between Jadeite and Zoisite – and Mamoru tried not to laugh at them.

"How are you, Mamoru?" he asked.

"I'm fine, thank you," Mamoru answered. Everything was suddenly very awkward and stiff once more.

"Excellent."

"Uh, wanna play some pool?" Zoisite asked suddenly.

The others blinked at him but Mamoru smiled.

"I do actually," he said, "I haven't had a reason to try this table out. None of the girls like the game."

He caught the look the Shitennou gave each other – they stored every bit of information about the Senshi away like a squirrel hording food.

He sighed – they had to lighten up if he was ever to make friends with them again.

He picked up a cue and the blue chalk and waited as Zoisite gathered all the balls in the triangle.

The younger man took the triangle away and grabbed the cue stick Mamoru offered him.

"Do you want to break?" Mamoru asked.

"We can just flip for it," Zoisite said. He patted the pockets of his blue jeans and turned to Nephrite.

"Hey, Money-Bags," he called, "give me a coin."

Nephrite dug into his pocket and flipped a coin at Zoisite who caught it deftly in one hand.

"That's the last American coin I have," Nephrite commented.

"Get over it, I'll give it back," Zoisite muttered.

Alright," he said, "Heads or Tai-"

Without knowing why, Mamoru reached out and swiped the coin out of the air before it could hit Zoisite's hand.

Zoisite stared at him.

"Heads," he said and opened his hand, the coin was on heads. Something about that simple gesture seemed really familiar.

"You -" Zoisite continued to stare at him, "I hate it when you do that."

Mamoru looked at him and realized that even if his mind didn't remember these men, his heart and his body did.

_That must have been something I used to do, _he thought.

Zoisite hid a hopeful smile and stood back to let Mamoru break. Mamoru caught him giving a thumbs up sign to the other men out of his peripheral vision. He smothered a chuckle and shook his head as he leaned in to make the first shot.

* * *

"You have to tell us!" Rei commanded, pointing an imperious finger at Mina, who lay in her bed with the sheets over her head. 

"No!" Mina yelled, her voice muffled.

"You've been avoiding us for two days, now you better spill!"

"Get her out of there," Rei hissed to Mako, who nodded curtly and without warning jumped bodily onto the bed and Mina.

"Get up!" Mako yelled, tickling her friend for all she was worth.

"Oh, gods! Stop! Stop!" Mina cried, laughing hysterically, "I can't! Mercy!"

"No mercy," Rei said, coldly crossing her arms, "You have to tell us about your memories."

"MAKOTO!" Mina shrieked, her giggles becoming ragged and breathy as she ran out of air.

"It's only going to get worse," Mako warned her, digging her fingers into the other girl's side, "you know this is my special talent."

"Alright!" Mina screamed.

Ami looked up briefly from her book at the tussle taking place on Mina's bed, then looked back down.

Rei nodded to Makoto who let her victim up.

Mina threw the sheets off of her red, flustered face. There were tears streaming down her face and she could barely breath but she mustered enough energy to throw both Mako and Rei very dirty looks.

"You – shouldn't treat your – commanding officer – like this!" she panted.

Rei smirked.

"You shouldn't withhold necessary information from your fellow soldiers," she countered.

Mina huffed and set about smoothing her hair.

"What do you want to know?"

"Why did the Shitennou betray us?"

Mina shut her eyes, her face suddenly calm and mature.

"You won't like it," she spoke quietly, "you may not even believe me."

Rei, Mako and Ami gathered around her on the bed, waiting anxiously for an end to the mystery.

Mina opened her eyes and there was pain and sadness there.

"The Shitennou bound themselves to Beryl freely in the past – there was no compulsion or she wouldn't have had such a strong bond with them later," Mina began.

Rei's eyes narrowed.

"So they willingly betrayed Mamoru?" Mako growled.

"Yes," Mina admitted, "but they aren't really to blame. Not entirely. You see, someone betrayed them first."

"Who?" Ami asked, perplexed, "Who would do that?'

Mina held their eyes with her own. She took a deep breath and said:

"We did."

* * *

"Oh, yes!" Zoisite yelled, having landed his third ball in a row in their fifth game. 

Mamoru was sitting this one out, talking with Kunzite while Nephrite had begun mixing make-shift drinks and Jadeite was playing against Zoisite.

"I am going to wipe the table with your ass!" Zoisite crowed.

"Talk while you can," Jadeite murmured.

He waited for Zoi to make the next shot, banking on the genius's over-confidence that almost always led to a mistake.

"Are they always this...rambunctious?" Mamoru asked the silver-haired man in a low voice.

Kunzite eyed the two at the table and smiled.

"They're glad that we are back where we belong," he explained, "it's a natural high to be with each other again after so many years of imprisonment. Like a vacation."

Mamoru nodded.

"Are you starting to feel more comfortable with us?"

Mamoru looked into the other man's eyes, formulating his reply.

"I think so," he said, "It's odd when things happen that I don't understand – when things I've never done before seem familiar. But, I think Rei was right."

Kunzite raised a questioning brow.

"Did Miss Hino give you some advice? I thought she was rather...opposed to us, more so than her other Senshi sisters."

"She's quick to judge sometimes," he confessed, "but she's very honest in her judgment. She told me to follow my heart, even when she didn't agree with where it was leading me."

Kunzite nodded, sitting back to think about this new information about the Senshi.

"All of you get that look on your face whenever I say something about the Senshi," Mamoru remarked.

"Really?" the other man asked, "It's not intentional. It's just that it's difficult for us to get to know them well, even under the circumstances of Usagi-hime's ...order."

Mamoru smiled wryly at the mention of Usagi's brilliant idea.

"You know, I can have a word with her about that," he suggested, "though there really isn't that much space."

Kunzite's eyes drifted to Nephrite for some reason.

"I don't think that would be necessary," he replied, "I was reticent with the arrangement at first, but I believe it has had some positive results. We might as well continue it."

"Are you and Rei getting along alright?" Mamoru asked, skeptically.

Kunzite smiled at his expression and tone.

"Miss Hino expressed her distaste for the plan this morning, but after I explained my full intentions and we agreed on the terms of our living arrangements, I believe she was satisfied."

Mamoru blinked. Kunzite's professional tone coupled with the fact that Rei hadn't killed him yet only made his respect for this god-like man grow.

He shook his head.

"I don't know how you do it."

To his surprise Kunzite actually chuckled and reached over to touch his shoulder briefly. Mamoru looked up into his eyes and beheld a happiness that made him embarrassed and touched at the same time.

The other man released him and sat back, his face falling into its usual lines.

"It is actually Miss Aino that I've had the most trouble with," he confessed, "ever since she got her memories back she's been avoiding me like...well, like the plague. I must have done something to offend her in the past."

He frowned.

_That is odd._ Mamoru thought. He remembered hearing from Usagi about her and Mina's adventure into the land of the ginzuishou and its power to restore memories – but as Mina hadn't offered to be open about her returned memories he'd assumed she didn't want to talk about them yet – now he began to wonder why.

"We are curious about the Senshi," Kunzite spoke up, after a moment, "they have been looking after you for some time – doing our job in many ways. And we all agree that we feel a strange tie with them – not like our bond with you, but something strong that has lasted through the years."

Mamoru blinked in surprise.

"I didn't know that you knew the Senshi that well in the past," he said.

"I don't really remember knowing them," Kunzite answered, "I only feel that we had a bond with them as well."

He shook his head, making his hair flicker in the soft light.

"When you spoke about your being together again," Mamoru began, "why did you call it a 'vacation'?"

Kunzite looked at him quietly for a moment, his face becoming very sober.

"We all agreed some time ago," he said at last, "that our...resurrection, is an act of fate. And as such we think we were brought back for a purpose. I believe that purpose was to help you and Usagi-hime and the Senshi build Crystal Tokyo and restore the Silver Millennium, to protect you from these new enemies."

"The conclusion we reached," he continued slowly, "was that when our work is done – we would prefer to be restored to our original state as stones."

"But...why?" Mamoru asked, his voice faltering.

Kunzite smiled, grimly.

"In light of our past, I think the answer is obvious," he said, "please... honor our request."

Against his better judgment, Mamoru eventually nodded in reluctant agreement.

Kunzite didn't catch the determined glint in his prince's eyes as he turned to look at the Shitennou.

_You may have given up on yourselves, _Mamoru realized, _but I haven't yet._

* * *

AN - yet another mystery! I hope this thing doesn't get too involved or I may lose it too. More action in the next chapter - I promise. Thanks! 


	8. Confession

_The Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter Seven: Confession**

* * *

Ami lay quietly on her bed, staring at the ceiling. The white above her was blank and vague and she could project her thoughts on to it perfectly.

She thought over everything Mina had told them concerning the betrayal. Part of her simply could not believe the facts. It was as though, with everything else that had happened in her life – becoming a Senshi, discovering her past in some part, battling monster after monster, seeing the world destroyed and recreated and experiencing this sensation personally – well, her mind, brilliant though it was, just couldn't handle one more thing!

But the other part of her acknowledged that, though she didn't remember the details of her past life, what Mina had said seemed rational in light of what she knew about the Shitennou. They were honorable men, one could see that in an instant. And they loved Mamoru unswervingly, that was also blatantly apparent. Since the afternoon of the the second attack, it had ceased to make sense to her that the Shitennou could have defected for anything other than extraordinary reasons.

And now she knew what those reasons were. To say she felt like a fool would have been an understatement. She felt like an unmitigated villain. She had yet to understand why she would have been tempted to betray the men; that part (as well as some others) Mina had not been precisely clear on. To Ami's surprise Mina had presented several gaps in the relation of past events that caused her to wonder if her leader was hiding something else.

But why? And what?

The part Mina had been most unclear about, in Ami's estimation, was the relationships between the Senshi and Shitennou of the past. For a moment, as Mina had spun out her tale, Ami had had an icy suspicion that there might have been...but no, Mina had made it clear that the Senshi and Shitennou had become almost 'brothers and sisters' in arms due to their shared interest, and at the most their relationships with one another might be termed 'friendship'.

Ami was relived, of course (and more than a little angry with herself for having suspected anything else !) but still...why would she have betrayed a friend?

Mina assured them all that she herself couldn't remember it clearly yet, but when she did she would tell them. But that, Ami more than suspected, was a fib.

Why would Mina lie?

The soft click of the door alerted Ami to the presence of her returning roommate. For a panicked moment she wondered if she should say something to him – but cowardice won and she rolled over and pretended to be asleep.

She listened as Zoisite entered the room quietly, trying not to wake her. He stumbled a bit and yawned, and Ami heard items dropping on the floor. Her cheeks flushed as she realized he was probably a little tipsy – she'd noticed Nephrite rummaging in the kitchen earlier that day and had seen him take several bottles of wine and scotch with him into the basement.

_So that's what all the boys were up to._ She thought grimly.

Zoisite's sigh interrupted her thoughts. No matter how much time they spent together, and regardless of the fact that she saw him in no other light than (possibly) as an annoying brother (if she'd ever had a brother, and if a brother was very attractive, but - never mind) where had she'd been headed with this thought...?

She heard him groan and fling himself onto the other bed, then hiss as he must have remembered he was trying to be quiet. She suppressed a chuckle as she heard him lean over to look at her in the dark and sigh with relief when he found her still asleep. He knew she was a light sleeper – maybe he would assume she was tired from the day's events.

She listened to his breathing, a sound that had at first irritated her beyond anything – but to which she had grown rather accustomed. He was a deep sleeper, his breathing was very steady and even. She was suddenly intensely curious to know what he looked like while he was asleep.

Surprised at herself, but intrigued in spite of it all, she waited until she was sure he was deeply asleep and then rolled over to look at him. She had to suppress another giggle.

He was lying on his back, his long blond hair spread out around him like a halo, holding a pillow to his chest as though it were a teddy bear. Ami watched him sleep for some time, taking the opportunity to really look at him as a person for the first time.

He was very handsome, she admitted, with a childlike quality that most women possessed. In contrast the hand and arm snaked around the pillow were wiry, tendons and lean muscle moved smoothly under the skin as he twitched in his sleep.

Beauty and strength, she thought, what an odd combination.

In her mind she contrasted his usual 'charmer's' eyes and smirking mouth with the innocent expression he now wore. She thought how much nicer he looked when he wasn't being snarky, - it was almost angelic.

That last thought brought her up sharply. She found herself three feet away from his bed, staring at him as the moonlight winked down. Blood flooded her face.

_What on Earth am I doing?_ She wondered, her cheek flushing brightly even in the dark. With a squeak she jumped back into her own bed and pulled the comforter up over her head.

* * *

Makoto wasn't sleeping well tonight. She was barely sleeping at all. 

Her dreams about air planes ripped in half and dead plague victims were now replaced by the faces of four drowning men who were crying out for her to save them. She kept trying to reach their hands, but her own hands wouldn't move. She kept straining against the invisible leash that held her but she couldn't break through.

Something made the earth rumble and she lost her balance and gasped, opening her eyes. She was on her side, facing the wall, the position she usually slept in – but she realized with shock that there was someone else behind her.

She steeled herself to remain calm. It must be her imagination – it had been playing tricks on her. She willed herself to understand that there was no one there. She heard a sigh and nearly fell off the bed.

"Jadeite?" she meant to ask, but it came out in a strangled and mangled sound.

Whoever it was made a soothing noise and she felt a hand pat her head as though she were a three year old having a bad dream.

"It's alright Miss Kino," a deeper voice than Jadeite's replied.

Who is that? She wondered sharply. She was about to turn around and give whoever it was a sharp right when the voice went on.

"Just sleep peacefully, Miss Kino, I'm here now."

The words really should not have affected her the way they did – but the tone in which they were spoken struck a chord in her heart and memory that caused a vibration through her entire being.

She suddenly realized why it was that her nightmares had tended to vanish in the past week. Why it was that she had increasingly been getting better sleep, feeling a bit happier during the day. And why it was that for two nights in a row she had dreamed that her father was holding her, comforting her as he had when she was a very little girl.

A tear rolled down her cheek and she tried to hide her sniffles, but whoever it was heard her and to her extreme surprise he began to stroke her hair.

"It's alright," he murmured, "I won't let anything hurt you, it was just a dream."

She wanted to cry even harder. Her emotions were threatening to overwhelm her at any moment.

She recognized the voice of one of Mamoru's Shitennou – the same men she had been so dead set against from the moment they showed up on the future doorstep of Crystal Tokyo. The same men who had risked their lives to protect her (as if she needed protection!). Though it did feel nice for someone to treat her as though she were...well, she wasn't quite sure.

But she was sure that this same person was a man she had betrayed in her former life, for a reason she no longer remembered – but what did that matter? The deed was done. How could she have done it? But she had. And this same person was sitting on her bed, quietly comforting her and soothing her fears at the expense of his own sleep – night after night.

It just made her cry more!

"You really must have had a bad one, Miss Kino," the man said – obviously a bit surprised at her outburst.

"It really is ok," he continued, urgently, daring to lean closer to her, "please, don't be so distressed."

Mako shook her head, not caring if he knew she was awake or not – it didn't matter. She was a horrible person and deserved to be back handed through a wall or baked in a cake and eaten! How could she have treated anyone the way she had treated them?

"I'm not a bully, really," she gurgled, weeping with abandonment now, "I'm sorry!"

The man made an exasperated sound and Mako gasped suddenly, finding herself drawn into someone's arms. She hadn't been handled like this since she was four years old.

Her tears effectively stopped – she was too shocked to cry – but she desperately kept her eyes closed, far too mortified to see who it was who was holding her.

He was long limbed, whichever one of them it was, and long legged. His legs were stretched out on her bed, while her torso reseted against his chest, confined in his embrace as he continued to pat her head and rock her only slightly as though she were an infant.

"Shh," he said. He smoothed her hair out of her face.

Mako was experiencing so many sensations – some old and some completely new – that she was about to go into overload. Her brain and emotions simply decided to shut down and deal with the problem later. As a result she soon found herself oddly sleepy – the rocking may have had something to do with that. She relaxed as she listened to her 'nursemaid' humming – his deep voice vibrating in her ear and against her face in a pleasant manner.

He didn't know where the song came from, it just jumped into his head. He couldn't remember the words, but he got a feeling that perhaps it had none.

Nephrite sighed. At last, she'd calmed down.

He was surprised that she was proving so hard to put to bed tonight. All the other nights after the first she'd gone to sleep rather easily and he'd been able to switch places with Jadeite quickly. But tonight he'd had to send his friend back twice. Miss Kino must have something troubling her tonight more than usual.

He really hadn't meant to resort to rocking her to sleep, it just sort of happened before he'd realized what he was doing; but it seemed to have done the job never-the-less.

He leaned his head back against the head board. He would wait a few more minutes and then sneak back to his bed. He was already dead on his feet from staying up talking with the men and shooting pool. And drinking, just a bit.

Makoto sighed and shifted slightly in his arms, her face pressed into his chest. It had been a long time since he'd felt that particular sensation – he thought, wryly. He tried not to think about her earlier transformation – but he was only human after all.

Kunzite had said that these nightly visits were permissible (after Jadeite had pleaded very eloquently - as only Jadeite knew how – that he couldn't sleep with the distraction and Nephrite was doing them all a favor.) What would Kunzite think now if he saw his second in command and the Senshi of Jupiter?

He grinned and closed his eyes.

* * *

Rei felt oddly peaceful as she drifted in and out of sleep. The silver haired, stoic Shitennou was exactly to her liking – quiet, no nonsense, and fastidiously polite. A bit boring – her sleepy mind noted – but in the circumstances this was a bonus as well. 

After all, she didn't want to be attracted to a man she had to live with. That would have been very awkward, not to mention out of the question.

Still, it was nice to know that he was there. It made her feel very...safe. Which was odd, considering that she was a Senshi and more than capable of taking care of herself. But the added presence was beginning to grow on her a bit.

It was impossible to tell how Kunzite really felt about any of this, of course – he had a face like a mirror – smooth, cool and it only showed you what you expected to see. Nothing of what the man felt – and she hadn't really picked up on much when she tried to read him either. He hid his emotions very well indeed. Or perhaps he really had none to hide.

Rei sighed. It was fruitless to wonder about any of this really. She only pondered it because she wondered what his reaction would be when the Senshi told them the truth about the betrayal tomorrow. She imagined he would be relieved...puzzled...perhaps disappointed. No outbursts of anger or dismay that she could expect from the others when they heard the news.

Oh, but the blond with the blue eyes...Jadeite. Now that was a reaction she was sure of and she dreaded it secretly. She had known, though she really hadn't had more than one conversation with the man, that underneath that social mask of affability and playfulness there was a fiery nature that almost matched her own. Of course she understood what it was like to behave in society – but she fancied that she had a slightly better hold over her temper than the blond did. Or maybe it was because she could read his emotions in his eyes while the rest of his face was blank that she knew his temper was a bit more passionate than hers. His eyes smoldered, burned and sometimes flared – everything bespoke a tempestuous personality.

What would his reaction be when he learned that she and the Senshi had been partly responsible for his betrayal of the prince? He wouldn't be stoic about it, that was for sure.

She didn't know how she felt about it either. From what Mina had said the whole thing sounded a little implausible and out of character anyway. Why would she have betrayed a brother in arms? For any reason? But she believed Mina's story – Mina was her leader and wouldn't lie to her – and why should she? If she were going to lie why would she make up such a horrible story? No, it was true.

It was something she would have to come to terms with tomorrow. She would steel herself for the encounter, and take what punishment she deserved.

She heard Kunzite roll over in his sleep. For a moment, a small stab of pity pricked her heart.

Of all the Shitennou she truly respected Kunzite, and she felt that she would least like to hurt him. But it was necessary – perhaps in time, some of it could be forgiven.

* * *

"_You are willing to trust me with such a secret?" _

_He looked into her eyes solemnly – but then, his eyes were always solemn. She suppressed the smile this thought brought unbidden._

_He seemed to dither back and forth, looking uncharacteristically uncertain for a moment. _

"_The others have agreed that it..."he began, then stopped. He sighed, and to her surprise he put a hand to her face._

_She was startled. Even though they had a clear understanding of one another's feelings (at last!) he was not a demonstrative man by any stretch of the imagination. She held her breath._

"_The truth is," he spoke softly, "you might as well know it, because you are the only person I could ever trust with this." _

_He reached out to grasp her hand with his other hand and lifted both of them to his chest. _

_Did he mean what his gesture subtly implied? She wondered._

"_I will never give you a reason to regret it," she vowed, her normally cheerful eyes sincere and as solemn as his own._

_He smiled. She could tell her serious demeanor both amused and touched him._

Mina opened her eyes and caught herself sobbing.

Never give him a reason to regret it? How easily that promise was made and broken. True, she'd been young and naive, and led too easily by her emotions – but she'd meant to keep it a secret. She never would have told anyone, especially that horrible, murdering -

"Witch," she hissed, feeling more tears on her cheek.

Jadeite, waiting patiently for Nephrite to return so that he could finally go to sleep, caught the muttered hiss and looked over at Mina, surprised.

He noticed in the gloom that her shoulders were shaking.

_Why do all of these women cry so damn much?_ He wondered in amazement.

He lay still and hoped she would stop on her own. He was no Nephrite and calming women was not his specialty. Rousing, yes – calming, definitely not!

Why? Why? Why? She thundered at herself. Why did it happen? How had the witch played them all so well? How had she known that they were all -

Mina shook herself. At least she hadn't told the others about that particular detail, although she knew admission was almost as good as lying. She also had a feeling that Ami suspected something, but if she could just keep fobbing them off for as long as possible.

It really was rather ironic. She, the Senshi of Love, possibly the world's greatest natural born matchmaker (in her own estimation at least) was not only not telling her three best friends that their past lovers were now practically living with them – she was hoping against hope that they wouldn't figure anything out at all.

What happens if they fall in love again!? She wondered, frantically. Would it all end the same? Surely not. Was this some bizarre second chance the goddess had given them? Should she take advantage of it and tell them all – how would the men react?

Mina wanted to snort at this, but covered it just in time. They wouldn't believe it, she was sure. They wouldn't like it either. And yet – it had happened so naturally the first time.

Regaining her memories of being in love with Kunzite had been a very unpleasant experience. Something like being thrown into the ocean when you weren't even expecting a bath, or being told you were engaged to the richest man in the world after you'd taken a vow of poverty. None of these smilies was making sense in her head anymore.

What if he remembered? She gasped and muffled her mouth with her hands. What if he woke up one day and had his memories back – or got too close to the ginzuishou when Usagi was healing someone and BAM! Instant memories. Would he expect them to pick up where they left off? Would he be angry or sad or just disappointed? A lot could happen to someone in a few thousands of years. What if he got married to someone else and remembered years into the future? Horrible thought!

Her heart was beating too fast, she had to slow her breathing. She didn't even know if she still loved him or not. It was so confusing to remember loving someone without actually having been in love before. She'd had plenty of crushes, but if what she remembered was accurate their relationship had been much more than that. And she'd only been fourteen at the time. It made her head spin and her heart ache!

How was she supposed to handle this? Honestly! Wait a minute. She'd been fourteen and he'd been...she blanched and let loose a low groan.

Twenty-five? That couldn't be right. He was eleven years her senior? What the hell had they been thinking?!

_If I tried to date a man eleven years older than me in high school,_ she thought, vaguely ill, _he would have been put in jail._

Things sure had changed since the time of the Silver Millennium. Of course women had been expected to grow up a lot faster then, and he'd practically been an old maid...that made her giggle.

Jadeite looked over at Mina again, startled. Had he just heard her laughing? What kind of weird dreams was she -

Maybe eleven years wasn't so bad – she considered. If she had managed to hook a twenty-five year old, even when she was only fourteen, imagine what she could do now – fully mature. She allowed herself a cocky grin at this.

It was coming back to her now, the challenge – the excitement of it all. She had set her sights high because her standards were high and she had always known that she wanted only the best. And Kunzite – untouchable, handsome, commanding, royal and totally unavailable, had been a godsend in a time of extreme boredom.

It was when she'd first started to come into her powers as both a woman and a senshi and he was the perfect test dummy. She hadn't meant for it to go as far as it had – but looking back on it now with a more mature, if not exactly more experienced mind, she could tell that she'd always felt a certain attraction that was more than physical to the leader of the Shitennou. From the first time he'd caught her trying to find Serenity – he'd certainly ruffled her feathers and she'd enjoyed ruffling his in return whenever she could.

She smiled. Chasing him had been the most fun she'd had – all because she was constantly tricking him into chasing her. Some particularly fond memories began to resurface.

Suddenly she snapped out of her reveries.

_That was then, this is now. And now is what I have to deal with and I have no idea what to do. _

Did she still have feelings for him? Even now? And more importantly – did he feel anything for her?

Mina didn't get much sleep that night – and unfortunately, neither did Jadeite.

* * *

"And where were you last night, lover boy?" an angry voice hissed in Nephrite's ear as he sipped his coffee at the breakfast table. 

"I'm a grown man, Jadeite," he replied smoothly, " And as much as I love these sweet nothings, I really think it's time you accepted that and let me go."

"Grown man my ass," his friend retorted, not removing his lips from Nephrite's ear, "If you pull an all nighter again I'll make sure you can't walk straight."

"That is amazingly persuasive."

He got a hard punch in the shoulder for his troubles.

"You made me spill my coffee you wretched man!" he complained, looking at the mess on the table and his pants.

"Good!"

Jadeite hurled himself into a chair and crossed his arms.

"I trust you didn't get any sleep last night either," Nephrite spoke up, wiping the coffee spill up with a napkin.

"How did you ever guess?" came the waspish retort.

"Because it's either that or the fact that you haven't gotten anything else in a while – and since we've been locked up in stones for the past six years -"

This time he got a pancake on his face.

"What do you think you are doing?" a calm voice asked from the door way.

Jadeite looked up quickly, a retort on his lips which died a sudden death when he met glittering pansy eyes.

He scowled like a recalcitrant school boy and mumbled:

"Nothing."

Nephrite heard this exchange with great surprise and turned to see who could have bested his best friend so easily. When he saw the Senshi of Fire behind him he felt his own manly pride dwindle to an ember.

_That woman has a stare that could freeze the balls off a -_

"Pancakes!" a voice chirruped from the kitchen.

Makoto entered with another plate brimming with pancakes. She wore a sunny pink and white apron and a smile to match, neither of which Rei had seen in years. She found herself smiling in return.

"What's the occasion?" she asked.

Makoto eyed her significantly then smiled at the two men, placing the plate brimming with pancakes between them.

"Just thought it'd be a nice gesture," she said. Then, to Rei's complete astonishment, Mako personally placed two pancakes onto Nephrite's plate and handed him the syrup.

"Is there anything special you like on your pancakes?" she asked, sincerely.

Nephrite was no less startled by her solicitous behavior than the other three. But as Mako didn't seem to think her behavior was out of the ordinary he went along with it and said, timidly:

"I like...cherries."

Mako grinned.

"Cherries! Coming right up!" she called and walked back into the kitchen.

Nephrite and Jadeite stared at each other in amazement.

Rei took a seat at the long table, crossing her arms, and tapped her foot against the leg.

What was up with Makoto?

She heard a loud, luxurious yawn and turned to see Zoisite, messy hair pulled back untidily, entering the room in his pajamas. Because of his size he'd had to wear left over ladie's pj bottoms and they were decorated with faint blue moons and yellow cows.

Rei blushed.

"Uh, you couldn't get dressed first, bud?" Nephrite suggested.

Zoisite cocked an eye brow.

"I am dressed," he pointed out.

Jadeite rolled his eyes.

"He means dressed appropriately in the presence of ladies," he snapped.

Zoisite opened his eyes wide.

"Whaddaya mean? The girls don't ever eat with us-"

He stopped and caught sight of Rei glaring at him frostily.

At that moment Makoto entered with a small bowl full of cherries. She took one look at his t-shirt and pajamas and started giggling.

He turned red and started to edge out the door.

"I'll be right back-sorry!" he mumbled and ran upstairs. There was a loud thunk in the hall.

"Ow!"

"Ouch!"

Everyone stifled their grins as Ami barged into the room rubbing her head.

"Wish that idiot could watch where he-" she stopped muttered abruptly when she realized there were other people in the room.

"Hey, Ami, want some pancakes?" Makoto asked, cheerfully as she ladled cherries liberally onto Nephrite's pancakes.

Ami watched this for a moment, her powerful brain attempting to compute the many variables she was confronted with. Finally she reached an error message and decided to terminate the calculations.

"Uh, yes, please." She sat uneasily across from Rei. Rei shrugged and daintily began to cut up her pancake.

"These are very good, Miss Kino," Nephrite said, "Thank you for making them for us."

"My pleasure!" She called, grinning.

Nephrite swallowed hard and turned to catch Jadeite's eye. The other man sniffed at the pancakes surreptitiously then shook his head.

Nephrite sighed in relief, but he was stilled puzzled about the Senshi's behavior.

"Good morning all," Mamoru said, as he waved quickly and snuck into the kitchen.

"Pancakes!" they heard him cry in delight, "You haven't made these in – ouch!"

The two men jumped up from the table, but Mamoru exited the kitchen sucking his finger.

"I told you not to lick the batter," Makoto waggled her spatula at him through the doorway.

"It's not sanitary and it's gross."

"Yes, sir," Mamoru grumbled.

The two Shitennou looked at each other, not sure what to do. Their liege had been wounded, but not seriously, and perhaps even justly in punishment. It was a difficult situation.

"Those look good," Mamoru pointed at Nephrite's pancakes.

"They are," the other man answered, returning to the act of eating them.

"Hey, Mako, can I have cherry pancakes too?"

"Me too!" Usagi yelled, entering the room with Zoisite behind her. The dinning room was becoming rather full.

"Get them yourself!" the cook called back.

Everyone turned to look at Nephrite, who paused with his bite of pancake half way to his mouth. He shrugged as if to say 'don't look at me'.

Usagi and Mamoru sighed and entered the kitchen.

Zoisite sat down next to Nephrite, putting a chair between himself and Rei. He was now appropriately dressed and groomed – and hungry.

_He must have the metabolism of a hyperactive three year old_, Rei thought as she watched him pile pancake after pancake on top of his plate and then drench the entire tower in syrup.

It made her want to gag.

Ami pretended not to notice anyone else, neatly covering her entire pancake in syrup and cutting it into exactly equal bite sized portions.

They all looked up as Mina and Kunzite entered the room at the same time, at first oblivious of each other.

"Hi, everyone!-" Mina cut off sharply as she felt her shoulder crash into someone else.

"Excuse me," Kunzite said and stepped back so that she could enter first.

Mina's face was blood red – instead of stepping through the doorway she merely stared up at him.

"Did I tread on your toe?" he asked.

She blinked.

"Mina? Are you alright?" Rei called. What was up with Mina?

Mina snapped out of her trance, flicked her hair over her shoulder and marched into the dinning room to sit between Zoisite and Rei. Kunzite sat opposite her next to Ami and smiled hesitantly – hoping he hadn't inadvertently offended her again. When she refused to meet his gaze he assumed he had unwittingly blundered yet again.

He turned grimly to eye the pancakes.

Mina tried to put a pancake on her plate without looking at Kunzite, but ended up dropping the pancake on the table.

"Oh for goodness sake," Zoisite huffed and expertly flipped a pancake into her plate.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

They were all rather quiet until Mamoru, Usagi and Makoto returned from the kitchen. Makoto sat between Kunzite and Jadeite, across from Zoisite.

"Would you like more coffee?" she asked Nephrite.

He shook his head, mutely.

"I'd like some," Mamoru piped up.

"Go get it," Mako returned, not sparing him another glance.

Again all heads turned toward Nephrite, including Mina and Kunzite's this time. He nearly choked on his pancake.

"Well, it's nice to have this table put to good use at last," Mamoru spoke, "I don't really like Western style houses but I'm glad we finally have enough people to fill it."

"It's like we have one big family!" Usagi purred happily.

The others remained silent.

"Have you decided what to do about the new enemies, Mamoru?" Kunzite asked, abruptly.

_He's all business,_ Mina thought, catching herself smiling.

Rei noticed this little slip, as did Ami. The two telegraphed messages to each other.

"Owing to the fact that they haven't attacked us in a few days," Mamoru began, "I think they're waiting for us to come out in the open – into their territory, so to speak."

"So we should keep hiding?" Rei asked, disdainfully. She caught Jadeite's fiery glance that warned her against disagreeing with Mamoru and returned it with a frosty look.

"No, I think we should do what they want," Mamoru finished.

"What?"

Many pairs of eyes were focused on him suddenly, but he took no notice and calmly ate his pancakes.

"I think," he said, swallowing, "that we should play their game. Send someone out as a decoy and see if we can trick them into making a mistake."

"Perfect," Mina joined in, excitedly, "we can capture one of them and get to the bottom of this."

"I knew that whip had more than one use," Jadeite whispered to Nephrite, who grinned.

Kunzite felt a sudden, tiny sliver of anger and nudged Jadeite's foot with his own. The other man fell silent and Kunzite felt better.

"But that will be dangerous," he pointed out, including Mina in his address (who instantly, to his great confusion and frustration, looked at the ceiling), "whoever we send will be at great risk."

"I therefore suggest," he began.

"No," Mina said sharply, still looking at the ceiling – though she transferred her gaze to Mamoru as she continued, "the Shitennou are not to be allowed to put themselves at risk. Only the Senshi will take on that responsibility."

"Um-"

"With respect, Miss Aino," Kunzite replied firmly, "we are the expendable people in this equation, it makes much more sense -"

"They are not expendable people," Mina retorted to Mamoru, who was growing a bit bewildered by this exchange, "they are very important and I think that the Senshi will agree that we owe them a debt of honor -"

"If you're talking about three days ago," Zoisite cut in, "that's silly. We're the ones with blood on our hands, so it only makes sense that we'd give our lives – I don't think you understand that the debt here -"

"No, you don't understand," Rei interrupted, "there is a deeper debt that we owe the Shitennou and all of our lives are forfeit for it."

Her words shocked everyone into silence.

"What...are you talking about?" Mamoru asked after a moment.

Rei opened her mouth, then shut it and looked at Mina.

Ami refused to look up and Mako cleared her throat.

Mina took a breath and put down her fork.

"The truth is," she began, "we, uh, that is, the Senshi have a confession to make."

The others looked at each other in confusion.

"What's wrong?" Usagi asked, "Has something happened?"

Mina smiled sadly.

"Something has happened, a long time ago." she replied, "You see, when I got my memories back I..."

How to go on? What would they think of her? What would Usagi think of her?

She felt a small hand on her arm and looked up to find the princess's blue eyes looking up at her in concern and encouragement. It gave her the courage she needed to continue.

"The Shitennou are not the only traitors at this table," she said, at last.

"In the past...it's very clear from what I remember that...the Shitennou would never have betrayed Mamoru if we hadn't betrayed them first."

No one spoke, they were too stunned. Mina looked down at the table.

"Is this really true, Mina-chan?" Usagi asked, softly.

Mina nodded.

The Shitennou were more than floored. They gazed at each other without speaking, hardly believing what they had just heard.

"Can you...explain any more...explicitly?" Kunzite asked at last, with a deeply respectful tone.

Mina's face glowed and she refused to look up. She was deathly afraid that if she saw the look on his face she would disgrace herself completely by bursting into tears.

"Apparently in the past the four of you entrusted a secret to the four of us," Rei explained, with a quick look toward Mina.

"And for some reason – I don't think Mina remembers exactly why – we ended up telling Beryl the secret and it gave her the edge she needed to convince you to join her."

"Is that right?"

Mina nodded at Rei's request for confirmation.

Kunzite stared hard at the blond head in front of him. He couldn't say why, but he had a nagging feeling that Mina was hiding a great many things.

"What was the secret?" Zoisite asked.

"Do you remember, Mina?"

Mina shook her head and took a breath, trying to get a hold on her emotions.

"No," she answered, her voice didn't falter, "I only know it was very important."

"I hope you won't think this an..inappropriate question," Nephrite began, "but, I have to ask – what exactly was our relationship with the Senshi in the past?"

Everyone held their breath and the room became very still. It was suddenly quite obvious that this issue had been at the back of everyone's mind for a while, whether they knew it or not.

"We were...friends," Mina answered, calmly.

The other men breathed out, but Kunzite's eyes narrowed.

She was definitely lying – and he didn't have the faintest idea how he knew that so assuredly. A million thoughts tumbled through his mind – and the solutions that presented themselves were rather startling and difficult to believe. He glanced at the other men to gage their reactions to Mina's answer.

Zoisite looked as though this was what he'd expected, and only waited to hear if there were any more details. But Nephrite's glance had wondered to Mako, probably without even realizing it. He was also frowning – a sure sign that he was struggling with something. This was a bad sign.

Jadeite appeared to be calm, but Kunzite noticed the tension in his body and made a mental note.

Whatever the past relationships between the Senshi and Shitennou had been, the sooner they accomplished their mission here and returned to their former incorporeal state, the better. He was afraid...but it wouldn't do to dwell on fears – he trusted his men. But he didn't want to push them beyond what they could endure. Or cause them pain.

He had an inkling as he gazed again at the top of Mina's head, as he watched her pointedly look anywhere but at him, what the past might have held. What it was she wasn't saying.

Whatever her reasons were, he decided, it was the right decision. The past was the past.

* * *

**A.N. **This is Firely and I get to write a note, finally!! That's because I wrote most of this one - because someone doesn't know how to handle the female perspective. ; ) It's been a lot of introspection and pancakes (hasn't it?) -, but there's action to come, so hang in there! 


	9. The Burden of Blame

_The Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter Eight: The Burden of Blame**

* * *

"I never saw that one coming," Jadeite muttered to Nephrite as they stood together on a roof top, preparing a net like structure.

"That the Senshi could have betrayed us...it seems...not impossible to believe," he stumbled on, "Just...I don't understand it."

"Me neither," Nephrite answered. He felt something was out of place – had been since he'd stopped being a stone and started being a man again. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something didn't feel right.

He shook it off. He needed all his concentration for the upcoming battle. Today was the day they were going to try to trap one of the 'Quartet' as the new enemy had been dubbed.

The Senshi were to be placed in hiding on the roof, along with the Shitennou (who, despite their protests, were still regulated to remaining inside the building's stairwell for their own protection – they had won the argument that Mamoru stay with them unless needed, in which case they were allowed to join him.) But the Senshi meant business this time, and it was unlikely Nephrite or his companions would get any fighting action.

He looked around, trying to spot the Senshi. They were surprisingly well hidden on the roof – which didn't provide much natural cover. He couldn't say why but he had the sudden and distinct feeling that Sailor Jupiter was to his left.

Shaking off the eerie and ridiculous notion, he finished helping Jadeite to set the trap and then followed him into the stairwell where the other three men waited. Mamoru was already dressed in a tuxedo and mask – from whence the sobriquet came. The rest of the Shitennou secretly thought it was a little strange but they held their tongues, though Mamoru caught them smirking at each other when they thought he wasn't looking.

"Is she ready?" he spoke into a blue communicator (he had borrowed Sailor Mercury's.)

"Yes, everyone is in position and she's coming out now," Jupiter's voice replied.

"I guess we might as well get comfortable," Jadeite remarked with a bored sigh.

"Not too comfortable," Kunzite muttered.

"Why would they have betrayed us?" Zoisite wondered out loud. The other four men turned to look at him.

"Now is not the time for speculation," Kunzite warned, "they'll be plenty of time to discuss the past with the Senshi later."

Zoisite nodded, but the puzzled gleam didn't leave his green eyes.

Kunzite squinted through the crack in the door. He saw a figure with golden bunned-pigtails in a fuku standing on the roof. With a graceful gesture she threw up her hand and almost tossed a beam of light into the air – giving off a wave of energy as she did so.

Nothing happened.

They waited, eventually the blond got bored and sat on the ground, apparently playing with her boot.

Kunzite felt like sighing in frustration but he checked himself as usual.

Without warning a bolt of white hot solar energy struck the ground where the Senshi had been sitting.

The men all gasped and Kunzite found himself nearly half way out the door before Mamoru's hand on his arm pulled him back.

"She's safe," the prince hissed.

Kunzite looked and saw through the dazzle of light that the Senshi was indeed unharmed, having dodged the attack easily and now she stood, blond tails waving in the sharp wind, facing two men, one caped and one in black.

"Where's the rest of your posse?" the masked Senshi asked.

The turquoise haired man smiled.

"I see you know us but I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure – Miss?"

"Sailor Moon, to you," the Senshi replied, smartly, "What do you want here? Why are you disturbing the people of Earth?"

"Believe me, Sailor Moon," Apollo answered smoothly, "We have no wish to remain here any longer than necessary. We merely seek our master's crystal. Without it he cannot awaken – obviously you see the difficulty?"

Sailor Moon frowned and crossed her arms, her golden belt shining in the sun and casting sparkles across her face.

"Why do you think that I have it?"

"Oh, I don't know if you have it per say," Apollo smiled, "I only know that it is here on this planet – and since you Senshi seem to be the only ones with the appropriate power levels to posses such a crystal – I naturally assumed..." he opened his arms gracefully.

Sailor Moon trailed his movements with a practiced eye. Kunzite noticed the one dressed in black, Vulcan, shift his weight slightly and he took a breath to call out a warning but Sailor Moon spotted the movement and shifted herself to counter the sudden stream of magma that singed through the concrete roof.

Landing gracefully on the edge of the roof itself, she balanced with the ease of a gymnast on a balance beam, hands on hips.

"Show off," Mamoru muttered through clenched teeth. Kunzite grimaced.

"That is pretty impressive," Zoisite admitted.

"It's pretty reckless," Jadeite growled, "Sometimes I wonder if they even know what they're doing."

"Have a little faith," Nephrite answered, ironically.

The other men smiled humorlessly.

"That wasn't very kind," Sailor Moon clucked, "You could have just asked nicely."

"Oh, I can do that too," Apollo answered, suavely sauntering toward her.

She remained where she was, as though she were safe in her own room rather than thirty stories up on a thin ledge.

They all knew she only needed to draw him a bit further toward the edge and the other Senshi would spring the trap.

"Really?" Sailor Moon countered his earlier comment, "Somehow I doubt it."

"Let me prove myself, then," he said and out of no where a bow made of white hot light appeared in his hands.

The Shitennou tensed as one, ready to burst out of the door when a flash of red made Apollo freeze with his arrows made of light pointed at Sailor Moon's heart.

"Drop it, unless you want to be cremated," a stern voice demanded. Sailor Mars stood at the ready, her own fiery arrow aimed with deadly accuracy at the back of Apollo's head.

Vulcan raised his hands.

"Don't even think about it," Sailor Jupiter barked, her hands pointed toward the black haired man, her tiara's antennae already extended.

"Now let's just calm down," Apollo said.

Sailor Moon nodded to the other two to stand down. Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter looked at her hesitantly.

"What is she doing?" Mamoru gasped. She was the best of the best, he acknowledged, but why – oh -why -

"Why can she never follow the plan?" he groaned.

_Please don't do anything stupid_, Kunzite thought, mildly surprised at his own fervidness. Oh yes – the sooner this was all over with...

To their horror Sailor Moon stepped down off the ledge and walked closer to Apollo, who had allowed his bow to vanish.

"I don't think there's any need for all this violence," she said, her voice clear, "Surely we can come to a friendly arrangement."

Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter exchanged a glance.

But Apollo seemed, for the first time, to show a spark of interest in his eyes.

That spark, faint though it was, registered in Kunzite's mind and he suddenly felt, without knowing quite why, rather...angry.

"What did you have in mind, Sailor Moon?" Apollo inquired politely, his voice still affecting a bored tone, but his body language gave the lie to his voice.

Sailor Moon smiled sweetly and batted her wide blue eyes gently.

"You're the first person I've ever seen besides us Senshi with such..." she eyed him appreciatively, "power."

Vulcan let a surprised cough escape him and Sailor Moon turned her melting smile on him for just an instant. He actually blinked.

Mars and Jupiter couldn't hide their scowls. _What was she doing? _Their eyes communicated to one another angrily.

"Mamoru," Mercury's voice whispered through the communicator, "I don't like where this is headed."

"You're not the only one," Mamoru muttered, "why has your leader suddenly decided to go solo?"

"The gods only know," Mercury murmured, "but I think she's trying to get him...off balance."

"I hope she knows what she's doing," he growled, bristling at the way Apollo was looking at Sailor Moon.

"Me too," Mercury's voice answered, faintly.

They watched with baited breath as Sailor Moon came closer and actually put her small hand on Apollo's arm.

He flinched only slightly but smiled down at her.

"If you will hand over the crystal," he said, reaching up a lazy hand to carelessly flick a strand of her shimmering blond hair over her shoulder, "My friends and I will gladly leave this planet – if you wish it."

Sailor Moon twisted her pretty mouth into an innocent, yet sensual pout.

"Good lord, how does she do that?" Zoisite gaped. The others shushed him furiously. Two pairs of eyes, one steel and one cobalt, narrowed to slits.

"If I give you the crystal," she said, playing idly with the material of her front bow, "can I come with you?"

Apollo gave a start, as did the other Senshi, the Shitennou and Mamoru.

"What did she just say?" Zoisite squeaked.

"Shut up!" They all hissed.

Vulcan twitched his spiky head toward the sound, but was riveted back to the scene between Sailor Moon and Apollo.

It was like watching an old black and white romance of the thirties, Mars thought disgustedly. Sometimes she didn't know why the chosen leader was so...

"Of course you may, my dear," Apollo said, his hand wandering down, almost timidly, to the hand that still plucked at her bow. He lingered there for a only a moment before taking her hand to his lips in gracious salute.

"We would be more than honored to have you come with us." his deep golden eyes gazed into her crystal blue ones with a rugged heat.

She smiled, shyly – but suddenly broke contact and turned her back on him to retreat to the edge of the building.

To their intense surprise, the Senshi watched as Apollo actually took a step forward. Jupiter smiled at Mars.

"Maybe she does know what she's doing," Nephrite commented to no one.

"I don't get it," Jadeite whispered, suddenly, "where are the other two?"

Kunzite's already stone-like face grew even harder as he watched the game of cat and mouse played out – he recognized both the participants were experts, but would their strategies cancel each other out – or would one manage to deceive the other first?

Sailor Moon had managed to make Apollo take three steps toward the trap, but he was still a good three feet away and no one had located where the other members of the Quartet were.

Sailor Moon twisted back around to face him, looking conflicted.

"I'm the guardian of this world," she said, looking at him longingly, "I am bound to serve and protect it with my life."

"But," she continued, her voice full of sincerity, "I'm also very...lonely."

Mar's frowned. She'd seen her leader act well before, but this was almost too good.

"She's amazing," Zoistie said.

Mamoru frowned, something in her voice was more than acting. There was real sincerity in her words and that bothered him greatly. He only hoped it would work to their advantage.

"You don't need to be lonely anymore," Apollo breathed.

_She's got him,_ Mars thought, dumbfounded.

"I'll never know how she does that," Jupiter mumbled to herself.

"Bravo, Mina," Ami whispered soundlessly to herself as she watched the other girl smiling up at Apollo with a face full of light and hope.

Apollo took three more steps forward.

"Now!" Mars yelled and Mercury sprang the trap as the girl dressed as Sailor Moon back flipped gracefully into the air and landed clear.

But Apollo hadn't been as well trapped as they'd thought. He dodged to the side and only his hand was caught in the net.

Vulcan immediately balked and shot magma at Mars, who ducked and rolled to safety while Jupiter literally blew him off the roof with the sudden fury of her fully powered Oak Evolution.

"That's for my leg, you bastard!" she called as she watched him sail off the edge and begin to plummet.

"Now, this isn't nice," Apollo said, unperturbed, but with a hint of malice lacing his words and more than malice in his eyes as he looked at Sailor Moon, standing on the ledge in front of him.

"You're right," she countered in a harsh voice, jerking the belt off of her waist as it unrolled into a whip like chain.

"And this won't be either!"

She jumped up into the air and, using the sun as a blind, she allowed her Venus chain to wrap around his lower body and free arm, rendering him motionless.

With one swift movement she called forth the Moon Sword and held it to his throat, her regular form as Sailor Venus suddenly returned.

"Remember me?" she asked, sweetly. His eyes narrowed into ugly, golden slits but he continued to smile.

"Ah, yes, indeed I do," he replied, "Sailor Venus, wasn't it? I suppose that means you must be the Senshi of Love."

"That's right," she smiled, pushing the sword just a bit too hard against his neck and drawing a sliver of blood.

"Among other things."

As though they were having a discussion over tea, Apollo gazed calmly back.

"Somethings not right," Jadeite growled, "Where the hell are the other two? Why haven't they shown?"

"We should go out there," Nephrite urged.

"No," Kunzite replied, watching the glittering golden Senshi. He almost smiled.

"We have to let them prove themselves."

"Well this is a role reversal," Zoisite muttered.

"The Senshi of Love," Apollo continued, "but what kind of love, I wonder."

Venus's smile only faltered for a second but her hand held steady.

"You spoke of loneliness just now," he continued, his pleasant voice melodic and sweet.

"I detected a note of...sincerity. Why would the Senshi of Love be all alone?"

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear," she returned, gritting her teeth slightly.

"Now," she continued, "answer me – who are you?"

"Easy enough," he sighed, "I am Apollo, the leader of the Shadow Quartet, though I can't say I'm happy that you seem to have forgotten my name so soon -"

She cut him off by pressing on the sword slightly.

"What does your master want with the Crystal? Why have you come here now to take it?"

"Oh, we've been watching your planet for some time – at least two years," he replied while she and the other Senshi stared at him.

Mercury appeared from her hiding place and ran forward.

"Your bow," she spoke up, as Jupiter and Mars turned to look at her in confusion. She fixed her large blue eyes on his face, resolutely.

"It wasn't a meteor shower that night," she continued, "the night the plague came. Your arrows rained down on us and carried the plague with them – didn't they?"

He smiled, nastily.

"Guilty as charged," he admitted, "My arrows carried the Shadow's full power. Nothing can withstand it."

Venus snorted in a very unlady-like manner.

"Clearly you've never been to Earth before," she replied, "The plague is cured. You lost."

Apollo only continued to grin.

"The plague is cured," he nodded, "but it was nothing more than a distraction. Nice to know you took the bait. Because of the cure we felt the power of the crystal that we were searching for – and even now I can feel it."

He looked then, straight at the door behind which the Shitennou were hidden.

Without thinking all the Senshi followed his gaze.

"Now!" he screamed suddenly and Venus cursed as she threw herself in the only direction she could to get away from the horrendous explosion of power – she tumbled over the edge of the roof.

"Venus!" Mars shrieked, powering up and dashing to the edge of the ledge – but she was intercepted by a hot blast of magma filled wind and thrown to the ground.

Kunzite and Jadeite burst out of the stairwell, rolling to avoid the chaos of power being unleashed on the cramped roof top.

Jadeite hissed as a bolt of lighting nearly fried him in his tracks. _Some_ f_riendly fire!_ he thought, wryly.

"There you are," he heard an angry, clipped voice say and felt himself encased in a bubble from which he couldn't escape.

He looked up and found himself face to face with a pair of violent violet eyes – and they weren't the one's he come to admire, he realized with shock.

"You're that nasty twit that nearly suffocated me," Hyperion snapped, then smiled.

"You'll pay now," he vowed and raised his flute to his lips.

Instantly the air inside the bubble began to heat up until Jadeite felt he was going to explode from the inside. He could almost feel his internal organs cooking as the heat flared around him, growing steadily.

"Two can play that game!" Mars yelled, her eyes glowing in pure fury as she attempted to immolate Hyperion where he stood.

The man had to throw himself nearly into the side of the stairwell to escape with his life – his bubble burst and Jadeite fell to the ground.

Mars powered up to completely destroy the flute player but a groan from Jadeite stopped her. She warily watched Hyperion as she knelt by Jadeite – the man scrambled away only to be caught by Mercury's attack and effectively flushed off the roof's edge.

"Are you alright?" Mars asked Jadetie gravely, trying to assess the damage of the burns on his skin. His lips were chapped and swollen as if he'd been in a desert for a month.

He nodded his head and tried to shake off her hand.

"Stubborn," she grinned, and looked up into the fray, taking the opportunity to take a blast at Vulcan who was engaged in fighting Sailor Jupiter and Nephrite.

How had those two teamed up? - Mars wondered, idly.

"Tuxedo Kamen!" she yelled, "We need you over here!"

The flash of a black cape twirled toward her and Mamoru knelt beside her and Jadeite.

"How is he?" he asked her. She bit her under lip.

"Not so good, a little short of complete dehydration, I think."

Mamoru nodded and placed his hands gently over his friend's wounds while Mars guarded them both from any other attacks.

The plan hadn't gone as he'd hoped. Jadeite was wounded the worst of anyone thus far, but he'd already had to use the kinzoishou to heal a burn on Nephrite's arm. And he still didn't know if Venus...

"Now Mars!" Jupiter thundered, releasing their attacks simultaneously on an unfortunate Vulcan. They succeeded in knocking him to the ground, and he didn't rise easily – but as they were grinning at each other a white hot blast of light slammed them both into the ground.

Apollo was apparently free of the confines of both net and chain – which meant...

"The crystal, you fools!" he screamed.

Mercury blasted him point blank with her Aqua Rhapsody, but he extended a force of light, encased around his body like a protective shield. The two faced off, their powers vying against each other, until, with a sardonic sneer – Apollo thrust her from him, slamming her into the wall of the stairwell. She crumpled to the ground and didn't get up.

He raised a hand charged with blindingl light as Mercury looked up, dazedly.

"Goodbye," he said.

"NO!" someone shouted and Apollo felt a strong foot connect with his back bone. He nearly fell from the force of the kick and his gathered solar rays flew from his hand to crash into the already decimated roof.

Zoisite landed neatly in front of Mercury and flung out his arms protectively. It was odd at such a time to notice such things, Mercury thought, but his hands were twitching as though he wanted to throw something at Apollo.

"You really think you're a match for me?" The other man asked, greatly amused.

Zoistie narrowed his eyes, and flicked his hair over his shoulder.

"I know I am," he retorted with a smirk.

Apollo merely shrugged and prepared to blast the insolent puppy into the next life.

Mercury frowned through the haze that was her concussioned brain at present. Something about Zoisite's position seemed familiar.

"Oh," she breathed, "Zoi, here."

She reached out a hand as he turned in surprise and found himself holding a dagger made out of ice. It was so cold he almost dropped it and had to throw it to the other hand.

Apollo was distracted for a second by the movement, which was all Zoisite needed to expertly flip the dagger into his opponent's shoulder, just above the heart.

Apollo's eyes widened in surprise as he clutched at his shoulder, noting the blood flowing freely down his chest.

Even as he stumbled backwards his white haired second in command, Titan, caught him.

"We've found it, sir," he gasped raggedly, dragging the other man away.

"Get it," Apollo ordered hoarsely, "Never mind me."

The other man nodded and let his commander drop to one knee, vanishing in a sudden tornado like wind.

Zoisite, kneeling over Mercury who had lost consciousness after expending the last of her energy in making the dagger, heard a shriek and a cry that sounded like Nephrite.

He turned sharply to find Kunzite standing with Tuxedo Kamen's cape in one hand and a golden chain wrapped tightly around his free arm. He was clearly straining every muscle in his body to hold both of these items as one was clearly attached to Mamoru – who was being pulled into the mini cyclone - and the chain dangling taught off the side of the building was attatched to someone else. He had few doubts as to who was on the other end of it.

"You can't keep holding both forever," a voice wheezed.

Zoisite recognized Apollo's jarring laughter and watched as Kunzite winced.

He moved to help but Apollo raised a hand in warning and Zoisite found himself trapped inside the hated bubble of immobility. There was nothing he could do but stand and watch in vain as his leader was forced to decide who's life was more important – the prince's or the Senshi of Venus.

Mars and Jadeite seemed out for the count, Zoisite noted as he looked around wildly for something, anything that could help.

Jupiter still stood, but she was held at bay by both Vulcan and Hyperion who looked only too ready to seal her fate permanently. _Do these goons never die?_ He cursed.

Nephrite was sealed away like himself – they were utterly powerless to protect the prince.

It was up to Kunzite – but Zoisite couldn't see a way out of this death trap.

Kunzite's arms were beginning to shake slightly as the living tornado that was Titan whirled ever more fiercely – trying to suck Mamoru away from his guardian's grasp.

"I'm giving you a chance to save the girl," Apollo declared, "Give up now."

Kunzite didn't reply, he only continued to hold on tightly to both the cape and the chain.

"Blast him -" Apollo began.

"No!" Mamoru yelled, trying to make himself heard above the noise of the wind.

"Let go, Kunzite!"

The Shitennou shook his head.

"Kunzite," Mamoru growled, their eyes meeting. He saw the desperate yet determined resolution in the other man's face. There was only one way to get him to save Mina, Mamoru realized.

"Kunzite," he shouted in as regal a voice as he could muster.

"I command you to let go!"

He saw the other man waver and felt himself being dragged farther away from him, at the same time the chain started to slip out of Kunzite's grasp. Kunzite tightened his grip relentlessly.

"I, the King of Crystal Tokyo and former Prince of Earth, command you to let me go!" Mamoru ordered.

Kunzite gasped as the cape and chain slipped farther away.

"Let GO!" Mamoru thundered. His golden crystal glowed. The four men of the shadow Quartet focused on it as though it were the sun – the tornado, with one final blast, ripped Mamoru from Kunzite's slacking grip.

The force of the release catapulted Kunzite backward toward the roof. Jupiter shrieked in rage and blasted Hyperion who'd been stupid enough to look away. Apollo tore the ice dagger out of his chest and caught his soldier, disappearing into a flash of brilliant light and shadow as the wind and Mamoru also disappeared into an inky shadow-like substance.

Vulcan, finding himself alone as the bubbles popped and released the other Shitennou, turned and lept off the roof into a waiting black hole of liquid shadow that swallowed him and itself up as it had Mamoru and the others.

Zoisite spared no time but rushed to the side of the building and grabbed Kunzite around the waist, hauling as hard as he could. He managed to pull his leader back over the edge and saw, to his relief that Kunzite hadn't let go of the golden chain.

Together they pulled Venus up and over the side of the building. She fell weakly to the ground, panting.

"Where is he?" she demanded, forcing herself up.

"Where is the king?"

"He's gone," Zoisite's quiet voice answered her. There was no accusation or blame in his eyes but Mina felt it all the same.

_It was my fault,_ she realized.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to Kunzite, not looking up at him.

He said nothing.

"I can't believe that all this time..." Nephrite shook his head, "they were after the prince."

"What are we going to do?" Jupiter asked.

They all looked at each other, then looked at Venus and Kunzite who were both focused on the ground.

"Rescue him," Kunzite answered, calmly and with almost no emotion.

The Shitennou nodded.

"I'll tell the Queen," Venus mumbled, and started walking toward the stairwell.

* * *

**A.N.** Sorry, I know that was a really long chapter to get through. Hopefully it wasn't too much. I'll post again soon. Thanks. 


	10. Hope

_The Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter Ten: Hope **

* * *

Usagi stared blankly at Mina, her child-like eyes opened wide in disbelief. 

"Gone?"

Mina braced herself for whatever would come; anger, blame, terror, misery, weeping and wailing and yelling – she could take it.

Instead she gasped as she felt thin arms wrap around her and hold her very tight.

"Thank you for trying to protect him," she heard her princess whisper in her ear.

Something unlocked itself inside Mina, she felt the door slam open in her heart.

"We'll find him," Usagi continued, her voice growing stronger.

Mina, to her absolute horror, burst into tears. She sagged in Usagi's arms and cried harder than she'd cried since her parents died.

"It's alright, Mina," Usagi soothed, "You did your best, there's nothing to be ashamed of -"

As always somehow the princess knew what was in her heart – before even Mina knew it.

"How can they ever forgive me?" She asked, sobbing.

"Who? The others? They don't blame you," Usagi whispered as she patted Mina's back.

Mina shook her head.

"The Shitennou," she sniffed, "We betrayed them in the past and now we've lost their prince."

"He's our prince," Usagi corrected, "our friend, and they know we feel the same way about him as they do; well, almost. Come on, Mina. I need you to be strong."

Usagi pulled back and gazed into Mina's eyes, Mina was shocked to see tears trickling down Usagi's face as well.

"It's been a long time since I've seen the old Mina – and I need her a lot right now." Usagi's chin trembled and Mina could see that her calm and strength were fragile. She was almost to the breaking point herself.

She wrapped her arms around her princess.

"I promise that I won't let you down."

"We have to stay true to who we are, Mina. We have to remember everything we're fighting for and we can't let the dark get to us."

Mina nodded.

"It won't. We'll find him."

She smiled, and Usagi smiled back seeing that her friend at last resembled her old, cock-sure self.

Mina took her hand and led her out into the hall.

The others were outside the deserted conference room, waiting to hear what the queen would say. As Mina faced them, feeling the new warmth flooding through her veins, she could finally see how the darkness had taken over their lives without their noticing it. The girls were so changed from their days at the arcade – it was understandable – but even in the darkest hours they had kept hope. Now they looked devoid of it, their faces drawn and pale. Even the Shitennou appeared crushed.

With everything they'd been through, it was no wonder that they'd completely lost faith in themselves. They needed someone to believe in them.

Mina stood in the doorway with her princess and put her hands on her hips.

She was done with the past, she decided. Whatever had happened had happened and there was an end to it. Nothing could change it – so it didn't matter anymore. Crystal Tokyo mattered, and the Senshi and Shitennou mattered – and rescuing her friend was what mattered most. There was no longer any time for self doubts and speculation.

She looked at Usagi and the other girl smiled at her, giving her untold courage.

"Everyone," Usagi spoke up, "I'm so glad you're all safe."

They looked at her, startled.

"But -"

"Mina and I have discussed what happened – and though I am so proud of my brave Mamo-chan, I know that he wouldn't want us to give up. We're going to fight."

She surprised them all, this small girl who spoke so fiercely.

"Mamo-chan and I have been separated many times, but we've always found each other again – and this time won't be any different. So I want all of you to put your heads together and help us think of a way to rescue him."

"But there isn't any way -" Ami began, dejectedly, "we have no way of knowing where they took him -"

_If only I were stronger, _she thought, miserably, _I wouldn't have passed out – I could have tracked them with my computer._

"And we can't travel as fast as they can," Rei added, angrily, "they may even be in another dimension."

_If only I'd seen this coming, I could have protected him better. _

"And we're clearly no match for them anyway - we could ask the others to help us, but...what's the point?" Mako finished, dully.

_If I had just been faster, or smarter – more powerful – I could have tackled them all._

"There might have been a time when I could have used my powers," Jadeite spoke up, "I could have tried to contact the prince telepathically, but – I'm useless."

Nephrite nodded.

_If I could still talk to the stars..._

"I should have seen it coming," Zoisite snapped at himself, "what's the use of being a genius if you can't even..."

Kunzite said nothing, and yet his silence spoke most feelingly of all.

"That's enough!" Mina shouted.

They all stared at her in surprise. She braced her legs and lifted her chin high.

"We could stand here all day talking about what could have been and would have been, and all that jazz – but it isn't getting us any closer to rescuing Mamoru. You heard the princess, this is no time to give up! We're rescuing Mamoru if it takes ten years to do it! Now let's start acting like guardians, not babies."

"But how are we supposed to find him if we have no clue where he went?" Rei retorted, stung out of her melancholy.

"Ever heard of a fire reading?" Mina quipped.

Rei's mouth dropped open and her eyes flashed amethyst.

"Here's the plan," Mina commanded, flicking her hair over her shoulder, "We will contact the other Senshi and tell them to return to Tokyo - Luna and Artemis too. In the mean time Rei will do a fire reading to see if she can find out where they've taken Mamoru, and what they want with the kinzuishou. Ami, you will work on a plan for rescuing him once we find him – and I want you and Mako to figure out what their weaknesses are too. Shitennou -"

She halted somewhat abruptly in her finger pointing tirade and glanced at the Shitennou leader. He was gazing at her with a strange expression on his face – his silver eyes seemed to be stirring back to life.

"Thank you, Minako," he said, "I think I can take it from here."

_He called me 'Minako'! _She thought, grinning. Rei kicked her in the leg and brought her back down to earth with a crash.

"Nephrite, I would like you to commune with the stars, try to help Miss Hino in discovering our liege's location. Zoisite, please help Miss Mizuno and Miss Kino in uncovering our enemies' weaknesses and planning accordingly. And Jadeite, I would very much like you to try to contact Mamoru."

The Shitennou, much like the Senshi had, stared at their leader nonplussed.

"But, we don't have our powers -" Zoisite argued at last.

Kunzite stood away from the wall he'd been leaning against to walk toward the center of the room, beneath the large and somewhat gaudy western chandelier.

"I realize that," he said quietly, with a glance at Mina and Usagi, "but I think we have to try anyway."

"Look, it's all very well to have hope," Jadeite commented, "but believing in impossible things is ridiculous – it can't work simply because you wish for it to -"

"Why not?" Usagi interrupted, innocently.

Rei chuckled, a quiet smile on her face that Mina hadn't seen in two years.

"She's right, Jadeite," Rei told him, "She does it all the time."

He blinked at both of them, the uncertainty in his face betraying his own desperate hope.

Kunzite nodded.

"I would never ask you to do something I wouldn't do myself," he said, "so I will be the first to put Usagi-hime's method to the test."

Without more ado he raised his hand to waist level and closed his eyes. They watched, holding their breath as he remained with his eyes closed – the vessels on his neck, hand and temples slowly starting to stand out as he strained hard to reach his vanished powers. The seconds passed by, and his teeth clenched visibly and beads of sweat gathered on his forehead, but his hand held steady.

"He'll never do it," Jadeite whispered to himself.

Nephrite clenched his own jaws and fists, willing Kunzite to be able to do the impossible.

_He'll give himself an aneurysm if he keeps this up much longer_ - Zoisite thought.

Suddenly, above their heads the chandelier started to flicker, just slightly. The Shitennou gasped.

The Senshi looked at one another, puzzled.

Finally, Kunzite released a tremendous sigh and opened his eyes, swaying on his feet. The chandelier immediately went out and the room was plunged into a semi-darkness.

"Oh my god, he did it!" Zoisite shrieked and threw himself on the first person he encountered – who happened to be Rei.

"Get off me, you idiot!" they heard her yell.

Mina clapped enthusiastically and called: "I knew you could do it, Kunzite-kun!"

"Kunzite-kun?" Makoto whispered to the person she thought was Ami.

"You're tickling my ear with your hair," Jadeite replied.

Makoto jerked back and tripped over someone else – who did turn out to be Ami.

"Someone turn on the freaking lights!" Rei screamed.

"We can't," Ami and Nephrite answered.

"Mina?" Usagi whimpered, "Please find a flashlight."

"We should have opened the door first!" Rei growled.

"Well if we'd known he was going to miraculously regain his powers and take out the only light source in the room I'm sure we would have thought of that," Jadeite remarked.

"Not all of us are psychic," he added with a sneer.

"And what do you call being able to read minds?" Rei demanded, trying to pinpoint her opponent's position in the darkness.

"That's telepathy -" Jadeite argued.

"Yeah, a psychic ability, you moron -"

"What did you call me?"

"Would you two shut up!" Zoisite yelled, stumbling into someone else who squeaked.

"Don't tell me to shut up!"

"I'm scared!" Usagi wailed, "Turn on the lights!"

"This is ridiculous!" Makoto found herself against a wall, laughing.

She head giggles to her right.

"Under the circumstances it could be kind of romantic," someone unwisely pointed out.

There was a sudden silence.

"Turn on the lights right NOW!" Usagi screamed.

"I found the door!" Nephrite yelled – his voice thick with relief. He fumbled against it and tumbled out into the open air of the covered walkway. Sunlight streamed in through the door and nearly blinded everyone.

Zoisite blinked and found himself on top of Ami who gave a yelp and wiggled away in mortification.

"I'm sorry I landed on you," he apologized, a bit peeved at her reaction, "But you don't always have to act like I have cooties or something."

Ami's face went bright red as she stood up and jerked her clothes out of their disarray.

"D-don't be ridiculous," she snipped, primly – and turned to find her glasses.

"Good job," Makoto drawled as she stood over Nephrite's sprawled body in the doorway. He grinned, even in his indecorous position.

"Ladies first," he motioned with an arm.

She smothered a giggle and stepped over him to walk out the door. He watched her appreciatively and then jumped up to wait for his friends.

Nephrite frowned and rushed to put an arm under Kunzite's elbow as he staggered slightly.

"Took a lot out of you, huh?" he asked quietly.

The older man nodded.

"It was worth it," he said, and managed to smile. Nephrite grinned back, an excited spark in his eye.

"If we really can reach our powers," he began, "Even in a small manner, maybe we do have a chance to rescue the prince."

Jadeite and Zoisite made their ways over to the other men, gazing at their leader in undisguised enthusiasm.

"You should rest," Jadeite remarked, putting an arm under Kunzite to help him walk out.

"I will, just a moment," he replied, gently pulling away from the other men. They watched as he walked after Mina and Usagi's retreating figures.

"Don't worry, Usa-chan," Mina was saying, "I'm sure they won't hurt him. They need the crystal so they'll be careful about trying to get it away from him."

"Which of course they can't!" she added hurriedly at Usagi's horrified expression.

"Poor Mamo-chan," she whispered.

"Excuse me," Kunzite interrupted with a cough.

The two blonds stopped and turned around immediately. The blush on Mina's face was not lost to him.

"May I request a moment of your time later this evening," he asked her, "I want to have a meeting between leaders."

Mina nodded quickly, settling a serious look over her features.

"Of course!"

"Thank you," he replied solemnly, though his eyes were sparkling in amusement. They flickered to Usagi's face and he bowed low.

"We will not rest until we return the prince, Usagi-hime," he vowed.

"Thank you for taking care of my Mamo-chan and my Senshi," she said, softly.

He bowed again and joined his men as they walked away.

"He's very kind," Usagi murmured, watching the men, "they all are."

Mina nodded.

"Mamoru is very lucky."

Usagi stole a look at Mina's face and smiled knowingly to herself.

"Mamo-chan," she sighed, "where are you...?"

* * *

Mamoru woke in darkness, much like his dream. 

But more than being a reminder of his dream, his surroundings held more tangible familiarity. With a shock he recognized the dark pillars, the rough walls and the whistling, whisper of a lonely wind that ruffled his hair and caressed his cheek.

"How?" he murmured, horrified.

He heard something shift and realized he was not alone in the darkness.

"Why have you brought me here!?" He demanded.

A pale face appeared in the gloom with sour violet eyes and tousled blond hair.

"Do you even know where 'here' is?" Hyperion asked, snidely.

Mamoru shifted with a grunt but found himself encased in one of the man's infuriating bubbles of energy.

"Release me."

Hyperion stumbled back at the sudden tone of authority that expected no arguments. But he straightened the collar of his odd golden tunic and stared back at Mamoru in a surly manner.

"I'm afraid that will be impossible."

"What do you want with me?"

"You have something we need," Hyperion answered, quietly.

Mamoru met his eyes regally, commandingly.

"Tell me what it is you want, and if it is in my power to give it I will. As long as you leave Earth and never disturb us again."

Somewhere in the darkness someone clapped.

Mamoru squinted as he saw Hyperion's twin come walking into view, his white hair swaying in the breeze.

"That's real pretty," he smirked, "but we're going to get what we need whether you agree with it or not."

"I'm giving you a chance."

Titan burst into laughter at Mamoru's deadly calm.

"Shouldn't we be the ones saying that?" he choked, "I think you're a little confused about who's the prisoner and who's -"

"I said I'm giving you a chance to live," Mamoru interrupted, "I won't give you a second chance."

Titan's good humor turned nasty within seconds.

"Listen, you insignificant amoeba," he growled, pushing his face against the bubble's surface, "you're in no position to offer threats. So don't talk to me like I'm your servant. Just shut up and hand over our master's damn crystal!"

Mamoru merely gazed at him as if he were a troublesome fly. It infuriated him.

"Who is this 'master'?"

"Shut up - you don't have the right to talk about him!" Titan screamed, while Hyperion grabbed his brother's arm and wrenched him away from the bubble.

"Calm down!" Mamoru heard the men whispering to one another.

"Ass-hole."

"I know, but this isn't doing any good - remember what Apollo said -"

"I didn't travel for two years through blackest hell so that he could-"

"Please!"

Mamoru was interested in spite of himself. The two men obviously had great affection and devotion for whoever their master was - and in all of this he continually sensed that they were more desperate to get their hands on the crystal for their master's sake rather than their own. He doubted any of the trouble would have started if it hadn't been for this 'master' person. As he watched the men argue, something else crossed his mind that took him by surprise. He noticed for the first time how very young they were.

_Those two don't look more than eighteen -_ he surmised. _That's why they're so sloppy. They don't have the polish of the Shitennou - with their powers the Shitennou would have defeated them, not to mention the Senshi of course._

_If it weren't for their leader and a considerable round of luck in their favor, the Senshi could have defeated them without breaking a sweat - so why?_

He thought back to the battles they'd had - the power the men had drawn on and the way they kept coming back after attacks that should have killed them. Where did this regenerative energy come from? Were they drawing power from something else?

These men obviously hadn't had time to mature to their full ability yet - they reminded him somewhat of the Senshi when they'd first tried to defeat Beryl. Untried and untested - they'd been a ragged, disorganized band.

_Who is their master?_

"What are you two fighting about now?" a lazy voice echoed through the halls.

_Apollo_, Mamoru noted as he watched the tall, graceful man stalk through the room.

"Nothing," Hyperion answered, giving his brother a desperate glance.

Titan opened his mouth, closed it, then nodded.

"I see," Apollo answered, then turned to look at Mamoru. He smiled.

"Hello, your majesty," he called, walking toward the bubble.

"Forgive me for not bowing," he added, sardonically with a slight pat on his left collar bone, "but doctor's orders are to go easy on the shoulder."

"Your men pack a punch, despite the fact that they are ordinary humans. Did you train them to fight?"

"They were trained by the best soldier there has ever been." Mamoru replied.

"Oh, really?" Apollo raised an arrogant, turquoise eye-brow, "Not very humble, are we?"

"I didn't train them," Mamoru retorted, "but even I could give you a few pointers for these men - if we're going to criticize training."

Apollo frowned while the other two bristled, but to Mamoru's surprise he replied:

"They are green still, but hardy enough to defeat your guardians. Inexperienced though we are we have managed to kidnap the King of Earth and bring him to a place where no one will find him."

"Do you have any idea where you are?" Mamoru asked, quietly.

He saw doubt flicker for a moment in Apollo's golden eyes before he blinked it away with a smile.

"This is a perfect place for concealment," he assured the prince, "I must say I was surprised that your own planet would harbor such a hideaway, but I suppose I should've expected that evil lurks here in many forms. After all, you did steal our master's crystal."

It was Mamoru's turn to blink in surprise.

"The only crystal I have..."he stated slowly, "is one that I was born with - and that no one can take away from me."

The others narrowed their eyes in anger and suspicion.

"Then how can you explain the fact that the crystal you are in possession of is exactly the same as our master's missing crystal?"

Mamoru shrugged.

"I can't explain it," he answered, "but if someone told you that I stole the kinzouishou, they lied."

They stared at him for a long, silent moment. Finally Hyperion spoke up.

"He's lying, sir," he addressed Apollo, "he must be. I ran tests on the crystal and it is the same. There can't be two."

"Why would the Shadow lie to us, sir? She was the one who showed us how to awaken our master in the first place."

Apollo nodded and turned back to Mamoru.

"Can you answered these accusations?" he asked, "I don't know what witch put our master into such a deathly slumber - but he is trapped inside it and without the crystal he cannot awaken. I refuse to leave him like that - so, whatever your intentions may be you will hand over the crystal that rightly belongs to our master."

"Who is your master?" Mamoru demanded.

"You don't need to know anything about him to comply with our wishes," Apollo stated.

"Who is the Shadow then? How do you know you can trust her?"

"Don't ask any more questions," Hyperion warned, "just give us the crystal."

"Or we will take it," Titan added, a glint in his eye.

Mamoru sighed.

"I can't give you something that is a part of me, and I won't give it to you. I don't want to hurt you but if you don't desist in your actions I will have no other recourse."

"Is that really your answer?" Apollo asked, his tone for once wasn't sarcastic.

"Yes."

Golden eyes met regal blue.

"Very well, when I have recovered my full strength the others and I will take the crystal from you. I will give you a night to reconsider."

Mamoru watched silently as the three men filed out of the dark, windowless yet wind filed room.

The bubble around him disappeared and he slumped to the ground. From what he remembered of the room the doors would be locked from the outside with no way to exit from the inside - it had been a perfect prison when Beryl had used it to contain him as well.

He closed his eyes and reached inside to feel the power of the kinzouishou pulsing along with his heart beat. It gave him warmth and a little bit of courage.

"Usako," he whispered, the vision of her blond head swirled in his mind and he allowed himself a small smile. Would the men actually make good on their promise and attempt to take the kinzouishou from him? It had been attempted before - it could be done - but it would very likely kill him in the process. Of course the men wouldn't care as long as they had the crystal.

And since he was buried alive in the ruins of the Dark Kingdom, it was unlikely anyone would ever find him.

* * *

Rei sighed and straighted her aching back. The small room that Mamoru and Usagi had had converted into her own private temple-like closet was a very cramped space and very unlike her grandfather's shrine. But since the plague he'd left the shrine untended and come to live in the small house next door to be closer to Rei as she aided the future King and Queen. As a result changes had to be made - life was topsy turvy now, but returning to a level of stasis. She was even beginning to get used to the cramped quarters when she mediated. 

Though her knees protested loudly. She rubbed them and let out a frustrated sigh.

She'd knelt before the fire for hours and still had yet to find anything that could point her in the right direction. A few visions had come - visions of darkness - a strange wind that seemed familiar - and a small glow like a tiny golden beacon. Mamoru was alive and buried in darkness. But where?

A movement behind her startled her. She whipped around to see Jadeite leaning against the door jam.

"Excuse me," he said, lurching away with his arms still crossed, "I came to...apologize."

She stared at him blankly and he sighed, walking over to kneel across from her.

"For earlier today," he explained, "for what I said about your...abilities."

"Oh," she answered, nodding.

"And," he hesitated, "I also came to thank you for saving my life."

Rei managed a hesitant smile.

"Please don't consider it," she said, politely.

His dark blue eyes caught hers and held them, fiercely. It made her forget to breath for a moment, though she thought the odd flame in his gaze must be a trick of the light.

He said quietly with intensity, "I owe you my life. I won't forget that."

Rei nodded again and swallowed hard. Suddenly Jadeite broke their eye contact and she could breath again.

She mentally shook herself, surprised at her reactions.

_It must be his own gift, _she thought, _he's very powerful. Not just telepathy...I think he has some ability to influence minds as well...dangerous._

"What were your powers in the past?" she asked, suddenly, "Were they anything like what you did...uh...in the recent past?"

"Your powers come from your planet, is that correct?" he countered.

"Well, yes - we're the avatars of our planets - most of our attacks are based on those particular domains."

He nodded.

"Obviously Mamoru is the guardian of Earth, as Earth has no Sailor Senshi," she continued, working it out in her head, "but you are its guardians too, aren't you?"

"In some ways. We are different from you," he said, "we aren't exactly avatars of the Earth, more like...its cup bearers - if that makes any sense?"

She shrugged.

"The Earth grants us specific powers - my powers are based in Illusion."

"Illusion?" Rei made a face.

"How is that the Earth's power?"

"There are a lot of different gods that protect the Earth or have some hand in it - smaller gods than planetary gods, because Earth's main god - or goddess - gave her life to create the life on Earth - she is Earth, so to speak. She's one with the planet so her children grant us powers, which makes her power divided instead of concentrated in one being. And these different divisions have the responsibility of protecting the Earth. A responsibility that the Moon once shared."

They both blinked.

"How do you know that?" Rei asked, surprised.

"I...don't know," he admitted, confused, "it just popped out. But now that I think about it the Moon always watched over the Earth. Because the goddess couldn't do it herself. I don't think I even understand it. Sorry."

"Memories?" Rei guessed.

He nodded.

"Ok," Rei nodded, slowly, "but what about Illusion? Why that? And what does it mean?"

"Well, it's just a title really," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's a way of explaining my ability to manipulate psychic energy. Telepathy, telekinesis, even manipulating space in some ways. I create illusions, in a way, because I can alter reality."

Rei stared at him, a bit aghast.

"Your powers are much subtler than ours..." she said after a moment.

He smiled, ruefully.

"Subtler, yes. Less blatantly powerful than a god or goddess, but equally deadly if used correctly."

"I recall that quite clearly," she remarked, sarcastically. He nodded.

"What about the others?" she pressed.

He sighed and closed his eyes, collecting his thoughts.

"Kunzite is the most powerful. What you saw today was like a drop in the ocean of what he was capable of at the height of his powers."

"He has the ability to manipulate potential and kinetic physical energy. Causing power outages is one example of what he can do. But the catch is, he can only exert the same amount of energy as he finds - so if there's only one light, then only one light goes out. But it makes him very effective when other people try to attack him because he can use their own energy against them. Nephrite manipulates nuclear energy, or rather he changes things on a nuclear level. He manipulates shadows: space, and he can also talk to celestial spirits that feed off of his kind of energy - like stars, for instance."

Rei nodded, storing all of this information and comparing it with her memories of the Dark Kingdom Shitennou.

"And Zoisite can manipulate electromagnetic energy - microwaves, radio waves - he's also very adept at using other objects to channel energy - like machines, or sometimes weapons. He also has the ability to withdraw heat energy from things - usually the air, so he can sometimes create ice out of seemingly nothing - water vapor, infact. Similar to Mercury, but different at the same time."

"That makes sense," Rei answered.

They were silent for a moment; both lost in thought - one in the past, the other in the present.

Finally Rei looked up.

"Have you had any success with reconnecting to your powers?"

He looked at her with a considering expression.

"I wondered," he began, "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if you'll agree with it."

"What is it?"

"I've been trying to - to reconnect with my powers," he answered, "but, I'm having difficulties - I'm not strong enough to catch them. I can hear whispers of what I'm looking for, but I can't -" he stopped.

"Is this making any sense?"

"Not really," she smiled, "but go on. If I can help you I'll try my best."

He nodded, relieved.

"I thought perhaps, since you also have a gift, maybe you could help me channel mine."

Rei frowned.

"I don't quite understand how I could do that," she replied, "I don't know much about reading other people's minds."

To her surprise he offered a boyish grin.

"It really isn't that difficult - or different, I think, from what you do. Your powers are more spiritual than mental, but there's a common element in both, I think."

_He's given this a great deal of thought._

"I think it could work, if you could just help me focus," he said. And she realized from the way his mouth was set, and his lack of eye contact that he was not only unused to asking other people to help him - he was extremely resentful of asking anything at all.

She hid a wry smile. Somehow she got the feeling that he was the type to be handled with kid gloves when it came to his independence.

"Alright," she agreed, "I'll try. What would you like me to do?"

"Perhaps," he began, holding out his hand hesitantly, "if you'd hold my hand -"

"Do you always need to touch someone to read their mind?"

"No," he said, but his frustration was with himself, "Never, but my connection is so weak that every little thing helps."

"I understand."

She reached out, to his surprise, and took his hand gently in both of hers.

He looked down at their hands for a moment as though he was puzzled. Rei was already using the opportunity to read him - to see what she could divulge. She felt fire when she touched him - blazing hot and bright in the center of his being - very dark and yet very pure.

"Go ahead." she prodded.

He cleared his throat and closed his eyes. She gave a slight gasp as she felt his mind open up. Suddenly, she could see clearly and hear all the things she'd always felt when she read other people - she could see through his eyes and hear the murmur of thoughts as they coursed endlessly over each other like a whispering stream. It astounded her senses. She almost broke contact but his pressure on her hands kept her rooted where she was.

_Can you hear me?_ he asked.

She almost yelped when she heard his voice in her mind as clearly as if he'd spoken directly into her ear.

"Yes." she whispered.

_You don't have to reply out loud, I can hear your thoughts._

_That's not very comforting_ - she thought, immediately and blushed when she heard him chuckle.

"Why can't I understand your all of your thoughts?" she asked, a bit peeved.

_Because I don't want you to, I silence mine._

_Can I do that?_

_It takes a lot of practice. _Even his mental tone sounded smug.

_Cocky._

_I heard that, priestess._

"Shut up and get on with it," she muttered, "or I'll forget to be nice."

She felt him smile inside her mind - it was a very creepy sensation.

_Don't be afraid, I won't let you get hurt._

"Who said I was afraid?" she answered.

_Have it your way...I'm going to reach into your mind now, will you let me?_

"I guess so." She hesitated.

_I promise I won't hurt you. Trust me._

"That's a dangerous word," she murmured.

_I know._

She felt his spirit - or was it his mind - delve into her own, gently - like a trickling brook flowing in a steady path through her memories, feelings and thoughts to the center of herself that she thought of has 'Rei'.

_So this is what you really are?_ He sounded fascinated.

_What?_ She forgot to speak in her anxiety - _What is it?_

_Beautiful. Absolutely..._she couldn't hear the rest of it.

"What are you talking about?" Her face was red, and she was twisting her legs. She wished he would get on with trying to find Mamoru.

_Very right. Thank you for reminding me. I need your help now - focus on Mamoru while I do the same. You won't hear me talking to him, but you should feel it if it works...I think._

"Great."

She cleared her mind, still feeling the trickling presence of Jadeite, and focused on Mamoru - a golden ball of warm, radiant, protecting light.

_What a...unique picture you have of the prince...truly unique._

"You're breaking my concentration...can you just hurry up?"

_Testy. I'm sorry. Focus again, I'll be silent._

She re-focused on her heart's image of Mamoru and waited - waited for any kind of change or feeling to take place. She could feel the tension in Jadeite's spirit as well as in his hands - he was really making a supreme effort to communicate.

Suddenly she heard him gasp and felt a strange ripple through her mind as though she were a pond into which a large stone had been dropped. She almost lost her focus, but just managed not to break contact.

Finally she heard a gasp and a thud beside her and jerked her eyes open.

"Jadeite!" she cried, bending over his prone form. He had collapsed onto the floor in front of her, but his eyes were open. He was panting very hard.

"I...heard...him," he wheezed, "I...almost had it."

"Good," she soothed, rubbing his back without quite realizing what she was doing.

"That's a start."

Unexpectedly he slammed his fist onto the floor so hard she feared he'd broken a bone.

"Damn it!" he snarled, and raised his hand again.

Without thinking she reached out and caught it. His angry, blazing eyes turned full on her as though they would burn her where she sat, but her own temper was more than a match for his.

"Getting mad won't help," she said, calmly, "you made amazing progress today. Rest now and we'll try again later."

He jerked his hand out of hers and sat still.

"Thank you," he whispered after a moment.

Rei stood gingerly.

"It certainly is strange hearing someone else in my head." she commented, stretching.

"I don't know if I like it." she added, frowning down at him. She found him gazing up at her with an odd expression on his face.

"What is it?" she asked.

"What you said just now..." he began, then stopped and shook his head.

"Never mind." He stood and stretched as well. Rei tried not to notice his nicely shaped stomach as he reached up.

For some reason he snapped his head to look at her with a startled expression.

_Did he see me?_ She panicked, feeling her face flush just slightly. Maybe he would think it was the fire's heat.

As he met her gaze, his liquid blue eyes sparkled and he smiled a very masculine, amused smile.

_Damn it._

He burst into laughter while she looked at him in outrage.

"Get out of my head, pervert!" she snarled.

"Ironic words," he quipped.

He gave her a long, satisfied smirk and walked out the door.

_This is not good,_ she realized.

She heard him chuckle as he walked down the hall.

It was Rei's turn to slam her fist into the floor.

* * *


	11. Let Us Be Lovers

**AN:** I have to say before I post this that we want to thank ShadowGlen for giving us the idea to actually use those snippets I've been goofing around with in this story. So thank you for that contribution (and many others). And also thanks to everyone who's offered such good advice – especially Valkyrie Celes, Alizep and Persian. Enjoy!

_

* * *

_

The Dreamer's Kingdom 

**Chapter Ten: Let Us Be Lovers**

* * *

Mina heard a polite knock on the library door and looked up from her paper work. 

As expected a silver head poked around the door and swiveled toward her.

"Miss Aino, do you have a moment?"

"Yes, is this alright?"

"Perfect," Kunzite replied, stepping into the library and shutting the door behind him. He walked slowly to the desk and took a seat in one of the large arm chairs beside it.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Mina asked, pretending to be casual and unaffected by his presence though her heart was beating rapidly and her cheeks were faintly tinged with pink.

"Many things, I'm afraid," he replied with a deprecating smile, "first of all I wanted to speak with you about the plan for rescuing the prince."

"Ah," she tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her heart.

_It's not like he came to confess his love to me, idiot._ She thought, fiercely.

"Are you planning on calling the other Senshi back to Tokyo?"

"I've already called them, and though it will take them a day to make the trip they were willing to drop their duties for the present crisis. They'll probably enjoy the change."

He nodded.

"Then, in that case, I have a proposition to make."

"What is that?"

"Since the princess must obviously remain behind to protect the country, I believe it would be in everyone's best interests if the rescue party consisted of my men and perhaps two of the older Senshi – Neptune and Uranus, if I remember correctly?"

Mina blinked.

"But – well, with all due respect, your men haven't exactly gotten their powers back. I mean, the light display this afternoon was impressive, but...I really don't think it will do."

Instead of being angered or offended he simply nodded in agreement.

"That's true, however, I think that, with the help of the Senshi, we will be able to overpower the Quartet even if we do not have the full extent of our powers available to us."

"I don't mean to be rude," she blushed, "but would you mind telling me -"

"Not at all," he interrupted, and stood up to pace, with his hands behind his back.

"From our two battles with the Quartet I have come to some conclusions about their abilities and skills – namely that though they are powerful they are also inexperienced and disorganized. In fact, if it wasn't for their seemingly never-ending energy supply I doubt they would have been able to defeat us in the very first battle."

_This is the most I've ever heard him speak..._She thought, amused.

_It's a subject he feels comfortable with...war. _

"So you can see that, if we can take them unawares, most likely we can defeat them with superior tactics."

"I understand," she said, "but what about their energy – you'll never be able to defeat them completely unless you find out the source of their energy abundance."

He looked at the floor for a moment, frowning.

"I am hoping that we may be able to cross that bridge -"

"Over troubled waters," she finished, "I know, but it's still something you should at least consider."

He opened his mouth, then shut it. A considering, almost amused look stole over his face, and she wondered if she'd screwed up another saying.

_Cross a bridge over troubled waters...that's the way that saying goes...isn't it?_

She rubbed her head in thought.

"Anyway, all of this is moot because I don't agree with your plan in the first place."

That got his attention.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you and the Shitennou and Haruka and Michiru go traipsing off into who knows where and get yourselves killed?" she asked, her hands on her hips.

His frowned deepened and he took a breath.

"Because," she interrupted, "first of all, it's silly not to let us rescue the prince, since we're more powerful – and second, it's rude not to let us pick since we're ladies. And also, we are supposed to protect Serenity and that means protecting anyone attached to her."

_And it's my fault Endymion was captured in the first place._ She added.

"Did you just call the princess 'Serenity'?" he asked.

Mina blanched.

"Oh," she stuttered, "yeah, sorry. All this arguing – it's reminding me of – uh, it's – it's stressing me out."

He looked at her for several seconds as she grew more and more flustered under his solid gaze.

"Putting aside our arguments about the rescue," he said, "there is something else I want to talk to you about."

Mina gulped.

"I know you remember the Silver Millennium now," he continued, relentlessly, "and I think there's something that happened between us that is bothering you. I'd like to know what it is."

Mina almost fainted. How was she supposed to deal with such a question?

"No, no!" she waved her hands in front of her face, "There's nothing wrong!"

"Yet you barely look at me unless you have to, you blush when I enter the room," he recounted, stalking toward her and cornering her behind her desk.

"You seem agitated when we are alone together, and for the first week of having your memories back you avoided me at all costs. I even saw you jump into the closet when I came into the kitchen the second day."

He leaned over the desk, placing both hands on it, until his silver eyes bobbed before her, inescapable.

"What happened, Miss Aino?" he asked, concerned.

Mina thought about shutting her eyes and pretending to swoon, but she didn't think he'd buy it. He never had in the past.

"Uh," she swallowed, "the truth is...there was something between us..."

His eyes narrowed and he waited, still leaning over the table.

"It's...in the past...you and I were..." she was really about to lose it. Goddess help her, the situation was desperate – and there was no hope of rescue. Should she throw caution to the wind?

Hell yes! She decided.

"I'm going to tell you something - but if you tell the others I'll kill you in your sleep, understand?"

He looked at her as though she'd gone crazy, but finally nodded.

"I promise."

Mina took a deep breath and pointed at his forehead. As he watched her, confused, he felt a faint glow on his brow.

"What are you -" he asked.

"It's alright," she said, looking at him in wonder, "it won't hurt you. I can't believe it's still here – even after everything..."

Her gaze transferred from his forehead to his eyes and he was shocked at the tenderness shining in her own.

"You must really have it bad for me." she smiled.

Kunzite thought he must have misheard her. He cleared his throat and touched his head again.

"What did you say, Minako?"

"I love it when you call me that," she cooed.

Kunzite blinked. Something was very wrong.

"What was that thing on my head?" he demanded.

"In the Silver Millennium," she said, quietly, "we met while I was tracking down princess Serenity. She ran away a few times, and once we went to see a ball. I wanted to help her with wooing Endymion, but I also went because I..." she blushed and cut off.

"I liked you," she said, looking down.

Kunzite jerked back from the table and stood rigidly, trying to process this information.

"And I was young," she admitted, rolling her eyes, "so I thought it would be fun to bond you to myself, I can do that because I'm the love Senshi, my goddess gives me certain powers that aren't for war-like purposes..."

She smiled, lost in the memory, while Kunzite felt his knees give out and had to sit in the chair.

"So I bonded you – I put my mark on your forehead so that no one else would steal you away. As if they could," she added with a grin, "but still, better safe and sorry, right?"

Kunzite felt like the room was spinning – of all the things that could have been between them – this was the last thing he'd expected. Suddenly he jerked his head up.

"Wait! How old are you?" He exclaimed.

"Why does it always get back to that?" Mina asked, sourly, crossing her arms.

"I swear, Kunzite, you care more about my age than I do. And I'm twenty, by the way, not fourteen."

"Fourteen?" He gasped, and she noted with some concern that his face was turning rather green.

"You're acting like an old prude, for goodness sake!"

She picked up a few papers and started to fan him with them.

He reached out and gently but firmly stopped her hand, removing the papers from his face. Then he dropped her hand just as suddenly, as though her skin burned him.

"Let me get this straight," he said, slowly, his eyes turning dark , "in the time of the Silver Millennium you -" he took a breath to steady himself.

"You bonded me to you, even though you were fourteen at the time and I must have been -"

"Twenty-five," Mina nodded, encouragingly, "And then you came to the Moon, eventually, and we fell in love – and promised to -"

"Wait!"

"That's not true," he accused, his mood darkening, "That couldn't have happened. I would never have behaved in so inappropriate a manner."

"Ha! Fat lot you know," she retorted.

He crossed his arms and glared at her, and Mina truly started to feel a bit frightened.

"You're lying," he said, "tell the truth."

Mina steeled herself not to break under his unremitting gaze. But it wasn't much use.

"Alright!" she wailed, "alright, you heartless piece of stone! I was head over shoes in love with you and you wouldn't give me the time of day. I tried everything to get you to like me, even just a little bit! But you wouldn't give in!"

His anger was washed away by her sudden tantrum. He felt a smile threatening his lips but forced himself to remain somber and disapproving.

"I'm the avatar of the goddess of love and beauty for crying out loud!" she yelled, "Everyone was in love with me except for you! It nearly drove me insane! You dared to deny the goddess her wish?!"

She stomped her foot, and her hair started to glow golden.

"Well, let me tell you something, mister heartless," she snapped, pointing a golden finger at his head, where once again he felt the warm, pulsing glow that spread throughout his body, running through his veins as the blue eyed goddess poured out her fury on him in the library.

"That mark on your forehead could have faded a week after I made it, but it didn't – and do you know why?"

He remained silent, watching her – the glow in the room increasing.

"I'll tell you why – because you didn't want it to!" She exploded.

The room was encased in light which flashed brilliantly for a moment and then just as quickly it disappeared and there was only the two of them, man and woman, in the library again.

Mina put her hands on her hips and tried to slow her breathing.

"And even after death and reincarnation, twice," she said, "you still have it there. And if that doesn't mean anything to you, then you don't know yourself as well as you think you do."

Kunzite took a deep breath and let it out slowly – feeling the tension leave the room at last, and the last vestiges of warmth seep out of his veins. His forehead cooled and he rubbed it absently. He had to think.

"I don't doubt what you say is true," he said, at last, standing and brushing himself off.

"I know that I must have had an affection for you," he added, and saw her look up – her eyes beginning to shine.

"But I don't think it – I don't see how it can affect us now," he finished, his face rigid and unyielding as stone.

Mina felt as though he'd slapped her.

"But – how can you say that?" she asked.

He turned away and walked toward the door, pausing at the threshold.

"There are many things I'd like to say to you," he said, "but the past, for what it was worth, really is the past. It doesn't seem to me that there is any use in dragging it out again. So, for both our sakes, and for the sake of the Senshi and my men, let's let the past lie."

"If that's what you want," she murmured, not really understanding her own words.

"We have to focus on what's most important -"

"Yes," she interjected quickly, startling them both.

She took a deep breath and steadied her hands and her heart.

"I understand, Kunzite."

He nodded and exited the room in silence.

Mina stood still, lost in thought.

_"You realize this is totally inappropriate?"_

_"Yes."_

_"I do feel an affection for you, my lady, but I believe in time you will be glad that you didn't pursue this. You'll meet someone closer to your own age, someone closer to your rank -"_

_"Yes. I understand, Kunzite."_

In her mind's eye she saw the golden sigil of Venus flare on his forehead in the past; superimposed she saw the present, the shock in his eyes as he felt the sigil glow - only a few moments ago.

A slow smile curved her lips.

"Well, you've never made it easy on me."

* * *

"_Endymion."_

_He focused his eyes on the man in front of him. He knew the face was familiar, the tall, lithe body clothed in tunic and robes – the short, wavy white hair...why wouldn't it come?_

"_My liege, the Golden Kingdom in in great danger – something is threatening the Heart of the Earth herself. The heart of the goddess."_

"_But you protect the goddess's heart," he heard himself say, "surely you know best how to -"_

"_I'm sorry, sire," the golden eyed man bowed his head in deference, "but you are the one the goddess allowed into the Golden Kingdom, you and the four sons of her spirit – so you are the one she has chosen to carry her heart."_

"_I don't understand," he faltered._

"_It's up to you," he heard the other man say, as a sudden darkness began to creep over the countryside._

"_You must protect the Golden Kingdom – your Kingdom, sire."_

"My kingdom," Mamoru murmured, twisting in his sleep, "wait...I know you..."

"Helios!" he gasped and sat up.

He was surrounded by darkness and the only movement in the room was the soft, lonely wind.

Why had he dreamed about Helios without recognizing him? Anytime Helios had appeared to him before, they had always been able to speak with one another easily – but this time had seemed different. He hadn't been in control of his tongue or his body.

"Was it a memory?" he wondered.

"Talking to yourself?"

He glanced up and squinted at the light the man before him held in his hand.

He recognized the dark featured, youngest of the Quartet.

"Vulcan," he stated.

"Huh," the other man jerked back, "I didn't expect you'd remember something like that."

"You better not be planning anything tricky," he added, red eyes narrowing, "Or you'll regret it."

Mamoru sighed. The discomfort of his situation was really starting to piss him off.

"What do you want?"

"You're supposed to come with me, that is," he stopped, "if you've decided to cooperate."

"And if I haven't?" Mamoru countered.

Vulcan frowned.

"Well then you're a bigger idiot than I thought you were." he spat and turned to go.

"How old are you?" Mamoru called.

The other man halted and his entire body went rigid with tension.

"Why do you want to know!?" he demanded.

"Just curious," Mamoru answered, shrugging. His obvious complacency acted as a balm on the young man's temper.

_He reminds me a lot of a caged animal..._Mamoru found himself thinking, _all anger and pent up energy – he'd rather be anywhere than trapped in here._

"I'm fifteen." Vulcan said proudly.

"I'm younger than the twins by two years, but I'm already stronger than they are," he added.

"That's commendable," Mamoru reassured him. But he detected the patronizing tone and snarled defensively.

"You seem smart to me," he said, after a moment, "why don't you just do what Apollo wants?"

"Because it's impossible. And besides, I think all of you are being lied to."

Vulcan nearly dropped his lantern.

"What do you mean?" He growled.

Another light interrupted their conversation and Mamoru watched as three more men filed into the room.

"I'm tired of waiting, so I thought I'd come visit you myself," Apollo called, cheerfully across the darkness.

"Thanks," Mamoru muttered.

"So what is your decision?" The leader asked, standing before Mamoru with his hands on his hips.

Mamoru leisurely stretched his arms and stood, gracefully. At his full height he was only half an inch shorter than Apollo, but the air of command about him dwarfed the other men in the room considerably.

"How is your shoulder?" he asked, politely.

Apollo blinked, then smiled.

"Remarkably well, thank you, Hyperion is an excellent physician."

"I take it," he added, "that you aren't merely inquiring about my health?"

Mamoru shook his head.

Apollo sighed.

"Very well," he turned to the others, "Men, please ready yourselves to remove the crystal from this man by force."

Mamoru felt the golden crystal inside of him light up like a beacon as he transformed into Tuxedo Kamen – and suddenly everything was different. He felt a buzzing in the floor. It ran up through his feet and into his body like a tiny earthquake – he felt the room lighten – he felt his cape lengthen and his jacket harden into something like armor. His cane also began to stretch and become inflexible. The top hat and mask disappeared completely.

When he opened his eyes he was no longer Tuxedo Kamen – somehow the crystal had transformed him into -

"What is this?" Titan asked, shocked at the change.

"A new power?" Hyperion wondered, scrutinizing the uniform and armor.

"I must say, that is a good look for you, your majesty," Apollo drawled, "but unfortunately we have no time to swap fashion secrets. Men -"

"I am Endymion, the King of the Golden Kingdom," Mamoru interrupted, "and the future King of Crystal Tokyo – I am the protector of the Earth's heart. And I am going to give you one last chance to save your own lives."

They were all a bit cowed for a moment, but Apollo rallied them with a shake of his shoulders.

"We serve a future king too," he countered, drawing himself up to his full height, "and we cannot back down from our purpose."

He gave the signal and Mamoru drew his sword, pulling on the power of the kinzouishou, and readied himself for the attack.

_

* * *

I felt it!_

_Jadeite, for the last time, get the hell out of my head!!_

Rei and Jadeite were sitting side by side in the living room area while Ami, Makoto and Zoisite argued with each other about how to go about defeating the Quartet.

Over the last few hours, Rei had secretly hoped that the bizarre bond between herself and Jadeite that allowed him to continue reading her mind would fade – but it didn't seem to want to go away at all. In fact, she feared it was growing stronger.

_I didn't mean for this to happen._ She heard him sigh inside her mind. It tickled.

She wrinkled her nose.

"I don't care, just stop doing it," she hissed, and returned to making tea for everyone.

"Look," he said, placing a hand over hers as she reached for the tea bags.

She pointedly shook it off.

"I already know you think I'm attractive, so can we please stop the Junior High flirting games and act like adults?"

Rei's eyes turned on him in pure fury.

"What makes you think I'm flirting with you, you insignificant cock-roach," she growled.

Instead of answering her he placed his hand on her hand and drew her closer until they were nose to nose, so quickly she nearly lost her balance.

His blue eyes flamed as brightly as her own and for a moment she simply lost herself in staring at them.

"I know how you feel," he whispered, "Don't fight your own feelings. It's just a natural part of being human."

"I'm not fight-"

"Yes, you are," he hissed, his eyes glowing brighter, "Don't lie to yourself. There's nothing wrong in being attracted to me – I am an attractive person."

"And a humble one too."

"So are you," he continued, his breath stirring her bangs, "but if we pretend we don't feel anything for each other, we'll only end up making a mountain out of a mole-hill, and there's enough problems already."

"Alright," she jerked her hand free again but remained close to him so that they could whisper. She refused to speak to him mind to mind.

"Supposing I did find you attractive, are you saying you want to – to – what? I don't get it."

She felt flustered, and she hated feeling flustered.

"What I'm saying is there's a better choice than denying your feelings."

"We can admit our mutual attraction to one another, and then we can either just go ahead and satisfy that curiosity -"

Her eyes were murderous now and he didn't need telepathy to tell him she would turn him into a human cinder if he didn't retract that suggestion.

"Or," he added hastily, "we can agree to work around it, logically, and in a mature manner."

Her eyes narrowed as she gazed at him with her arms crossed. He held his breath, wondering if she would decide to spare him.

Fortunately she felt merciful today.

"Logically and in a mature manner," she repeated, "Alright."

"Here's my suggestion: if you so much as touch me again without my permission you'll find out what it feels like to be a pop-tart toasted in the fires of hell, you understand?"

"Perfectly. As long as you are willing to admit that you do feel something for me. You're a passionate being, Miss Hino – even if you act like an ice princess."

She smirked.

"The same could be said for you."

The flame that flickered in his eyes at her words wasn't anger, but something else. She turned away from him suddenly and went back to making tea, while he looked away as well, and caught sight of Nephrite staring at them from the doorway.

"So what did you feel?" she asked, quietly.

"Huh?"

"You said you felt something, what was it?"

He snapped his eyes back to her profile.

"Oh, I felt the golden crystal. Wherever he is Mamoru is using it right now – in such a way that I can feel it too. Either he's close by or he's using a tremendous amount of energy – or both."

She nodded.

"I think he's definitely still in our solar system, maybe even on Earth – but surrounded in darkness, which would suggest space."

"No." Jadeite shook his head.

"From what I felt he's much closer than that."

"What are you two up to?" Nephrite asked, his raised voice attracted the attention of the others and they ceased arguing to look at Rei and Jadeite.

"Talking about Mamoru's present where-abouts," Rei replied evenly, picking up the tea tray and carrying toward their table.

"Oh, thanks," Mako took a cup of tea and held it in her hands, savoring the warmth and aroma.

Rei, Jadeite and Nephrite sat at the table.

"So, have you gotten very far on figuring out where he might be?" Nephrite asked.

They shared a look, and Jadeite replied, "No."

"Welcome to the club," Mako chuckled, "we can't even agree to disagree over here."

"Well I don't see why Ami has to be so stubborn," Zoisite declared, hotly, "I mean it's clear from the information we've amassed that the Quartet draw their powers from a solar based source."

"But that doesn't explain their regenerative energy capabilities," Ami interrupted, her tone slightly piqued (which, for Ami, meant she was close to losing her temper).

"I told you they must have some sort of double connection that allows them to use their star's source like an adapter to -"

"But that still doesn't explain the fact that the energy they used in reviving wasn't consciously sought – they would have had to be aware they were doing it -"

"Sit back," Makoto whispered to the others, "they're just getting started."

"Which implies outside intervention," Ami finished.

She and Zoisite were nearly nose to nose over the table, like two excitable rat terriers.

"Outside intervention from whom!?" Zoisite thundered, "There was no one else there!"

"That we know about!" Ami, flicked her hair out of her eyes angrily.

"I believe what my eyes tell me," he countered, "and everything we've seen points to their solar based attacks using only solar energy – the ultraviolet light, the plasma and solar flares, the solar wind, the aurora used as force fields – all point to strictly sun based -"

"I know that!" Ami yelled, her glasses falling off her nose, "But that's not the whole answer!"

Zoisite reached out without thinking to gently push her glasses back up her nose, and Ami immediately lost all her steam.

"I feel like a third wheel, honestly," Makoto joked.

Ami turned bright red and sat back down so fast she nearly toppled over backwards.

"There you go again," Zoisite complained, "acting like I'm death to touch. You know, a lot of women would be shooting each other for the chance to sleep in the same room with me night after night – instead of treating me like a mutated form of tubercle bacillus."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ami sniffed, "I do nothing of the kind."

"Oh ho, Miss ice in her pants," he countered, and grabbed her hand to plant a kiss on it.

Ami froze as though he'd bitten her.

"Look at you, just look at that," he said, in a disgusted tone, "most women would be swooning, but you look at me as though I was a vampire. You are unnatural and unkind."

He released her and slumped back into his chair to sulk.

Ami stared in mortification at her hand as thought it would soon fall off her body.

"Ames, are you alright?" Mako asked, trying to hide a smile. She knew how much attention from the opposite sex discomforted Ami, but she couldn't help but be slightly amused at Zoisite's antics.

"Maybe if you treated her like a lady and less like your favorite plaything, she might be willing to -" Nephrite suggested.

"I don't treat you like that, do I, Ami?"

Ami, to their great surprise, stood abruptly and walked off without another word.

"Uh oh," Mako murmured. She looked at them for a moment then set her cup on the table.

"I guess I better -" she began, rising.

"No," Zoisite said, quietly, "I'll go."

Nephrite and Jadeite stared at him in surprise as he rose from the table and headed off to find Ami.

"Hm." Mako commented to no one sipped her tea.

"So no one's made any progress?" she asked.

"Well, actually, Jadeite does have some of his power back," Rei replied, carefully, "but not much."

"That's great!" Nephrite and Makoto chorused, then chuckled at one another.

"What does it feel like?" Nephrite asked eagerly, "How did you do it?"

"Um..." Jadeite glanced at Rei, "well Miss Hino helped me to focus on my ability and I just sort of – tried to remember how to use it...and, it worked."

"Huh," Nephrite grinned, "Well, I'm looking forward to giving mine a go tonight."

"You have to wait until night?" Mako asked.

"He talks to stars," Jadeite quipped, "And they're only awake at night."

"Something like that," Nephrite replied, good natured-ly.

"You talk to stars?" Mako asked, perplexed, "I didn't know stars could talk."

"Well, they don't talk exactly," he explained, "it's more like I can read the information that they store over the eons – you see, time not being exactly circular, you can sometimes understand the images that are produced...it's a long story."

Mako nodded and stretched.

"Well, I don't think we're going to get much more planning done tonight, so I'm off to make dinner."

"I'll help," Rei offered and stood.

"Great, let's go."

The two women left for the kitchen and Nephrite and Jadeite sat at the table alone.

"About Miss Hino," Nephrite began.

"Yes?" Jadeite sat back, crossing his arms.

His oldest friend glanced up and caught his eyes.

"What did you do exactly? I mean to get you to connect with your power?"

Jadeite sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.

"She...held my hand and helped me focus, and then she...allowed me to read her mind."

"And you saw..."

"That's rather personal, don't you think?"

"Exactly, which is why I'm wondering what the hell you think you're doing getting so 'personal' with Miss Hino?"

Jadeite let his hands drop heavily to the table.

"Look," he said, after a moment, "Whatever thoughts you're having about my interest in Rei Hino, just put them out of your mind right now. It's strictly professional, just like Kunzite said."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

Nephrite stared at his friend, and though he wasn't the one with telepathic abilities Jadeite felt his eyes boring into his mind and penetrating into his very soul.

"Alright," he sighed, at last, "I confess. I'm attracted to her."

"But it's merely physical attraction," he added, quietly, "She just happens to be my type, that's all."

"Ah, yes," the dark haired man chuckled, ruefully, "I was afraid of that. Exotic, beautiful, mature and above all mysterious."

"We talked about it too," Jadeite continued, " So you don't have any other reason to worry. Nothing will come of it."

"I wasn't worried."

"Liar."

He smirked and Nephrite smiled.

"Better go check up on Zoi, make sure he isn't in over his head."

Jadeite snorted and stood up.

"Oh, I have a feeling Miss Mizuno knows how to handle the drama queen."

* * *


	12. Searching For Answers

_The Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter Eleven: Searching for Answers**

* * *

"Watch out!" 

Hyperion grabbed his twin, flattening both of them to the ground as their spiky haired companion went sailing over their heads to collide with the sharp ground behind them. Vulcan moaned but rolled over to climb to his knees.

"How did he do that?" Titan swore for the fifth time in an hour.

"I don't know," his twin panted, squinting his eyes.

"Somehow he's drawing power from something – something tremendously -"

"Move!"

Hyperion's hypothesis was halted by a tremendous vibration through the core of the room – caused by the glowing golden sword in the hands of the King in front of them.

"Will you yield?" Endymion called in ringing tones.

"Never!" Titan screamed and charged the King with his staff whirling around him – gathering up the wind and heat as it went. He skidded across the floor to a stop three feet from the King and swept the staff up into the air as though he'd been knocking a puck into a goal. The heated air blasted into Mamoru (who was now transformed to look like Endymion) and knocked him back several inches. But he kept his footing all the same and had time to return the blow as Titan stared at the uselessness of his attack.

"How did he get so powerful?" Hyperion heard a voice rasp in his ear. He turned to find Vulcan, one eye shut with a bloody gash above it, his other, brilliant red eye trained on the glowing figure of Mamoru.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? I don't know!"

"Well you'd better find out soon, my dear tactician, or there won't be anyone left to protect your hide."

Hyperion glowered at his leader as the taller man stood above him, pulling out a long sword from its sheath.

He gasped. Apollo never had to draw his sword – even in the thick of battle with the Senshi and Shitennou, he'd managed to keep it sheathed. If he was unsheathing it now...

"I have to hand it to you, your majesty," Apollo quipped, making a few experimental swipes in the air with his swinging silver blade, "You certainly are quite the fighter."

"And what kind of a leader are you?" Mamoru countered, keeping his sword steady in his hand, watching all of them warily.

"You are leading your men into death – I urge you to stop."

Apollo smiled, and faster than Mamoru would have thought possible, Apollo was charging at him with his sword raised high. The clang of metal on metal rang through the room as Mamoru blocked the blow, then used his momentum to thrust the other man backward.

"We are all willing to die for our king," Apollo said, his tone finally dropping the lilt.

His words echoed in Mamoru's mind with an odd familiarity.

_Who has sent them here? What kind of a master deserves such devotion?_

_I don't want to destroy them..._

He felt the golden crystal glow inside him, as though it had a mind of its own. Perhaps it did – or perhaps a force greater than him was wielding it. He felt his whole body flood with the strength and light of it – then, as though he'd been doing it his whole life, he pointed his sword into the air and brought it down – releasing an enormous wave of energy that knocked the other men to the floor. They didn't get up.

Mamoru sank to one knee, leaning heavily on his sword, panting.

The golden crystal never ceased to surprise him. The strength he felt moving through his veins came from the crystal, but the price of using so much strength was of course great weakness. He suddenly knew how Usagi must feel when she called on the ginzouishou. No wonder she fainted so often.

He shook his head, ignoring the wrench at his heart that thoughts of Usako always caused. He would see her again soon – and when he did...

He smiled as he slumped a bit lower. The crystal certainly packed a punch.

He closed his eyes and let himself drift just a bit – and in that moment he felt a dark cold seeping into the room.

His eyes snapped open.

There around the men a tendril of thin smoke like fog wafted through the room and along the ground like a creeping hand.

_What is that?!_

He tried to stand, but was still too weak – and was forced to simply watch as he knelt.

The black shadow wrapped itself around the men one by one taking a firm grip on them, covering them from head to foot in darkness.

Mamoru watched, petrified at the sight. What was the confounded thing?

One of the men moaned as it tightened around him. Mamoru tried to find his voice to wake them – warn them – but he was too tired even to speak.

He gritted his teeth, and tried to conjure a rose, anything that he could fling at that awful, hungry shadow.

But it covered the men completely and then as suddenly as it had come it disappeared – taking the men with it.

Mamoru tried to catch his breath, but his lungs felt like they were drawing in ice instead of air. He coughed to clear his throat and had to lie on the floor with his sword drawn up to his chest. He rolled over onto his back as his form wavered and his cape shrunk slightly. He found himself in his familiar tuxedo, his sword had become a cane once more.

Sometimes he wondered if his identity as Tuxedo Kamen – and the ridiculous outfits the Senshi themselves wore – were merely all the result of Usagi's imagination. Had he become the hero she wanted him to be? It was exactly what someone like his sweet girl would imagine. If it had been up to him...He sighed.

_I'm rambling..._

He closed his eyes and let himself relax. The mystery of the shadow would have to wait until after his strength had returned. The blackness of the room was pulling him into sleep when he felt a pull inside.

The golden crystal was lighting up again. He groaned. He didn't have much energy left – surely the crystal didn't have anything else it wanted him to do?

But the crystal continued to glow, faintly, pulsing slightly. It became no brighter, but it wouldn't fade.

He forced himself to lean against the wall and let his head roll back.

Suddenly he gasped.

_Sire?_

A faint voice – so faint he thought is must be his imagination – was quietly whispering in his mind.

_Sire? Endymion? _

_Mamoru?_

"Jadeite?" he wheezed.

_Sire? Can you hear me?_

"Yes." Mamoru whispered, amazed.

"How?"

_You don't have to speak, sire, I can hear your thoughts. Are you well?_

_I'm fine..._Mamoru thought, weakly. This was too bizarre, and yet, it felt oddly familiar.

_We used to do this all the time...in the past..._

_We did?_

_Sire, where are you?_

Mamoru took a deep breath and opened his eyes – letting the other man see what he saw.

He heard Jadeite's thoughts tumble over each other in a momentary lack of control.

_Beryl's...lair?_

_Yes._

_But...how? Why? _

Mamoru could feel the fury building in the other man.

_I don't know, but there are more important issues...how is Usagi?_

_She's worried, but well. _

He sighed in relief.

_And the others?_

_They are all well, but it's...difficult...we are trying to work together, but -_

_No buts! You must work together – if any of us are ever to get out of this mess..._

_Yes, sire..._

_Don't call me sire, I'm not a king yet._

_Yes, si- Mamoru._

_That's better. _

He thought he heard the ghost of a laugh.

_Jadeite, how is that you can talk to me? I thought you and the others had no powers..._

_We didn't – but Kunzite willed the impossible to happen and...it did. _

Mamoru allowed himself a small smirk.

_Of course, only Kunzite would give the universe an order and expect it to obey._

This time it wasn't Mamoru's imagination – Jadeite laughed long and full. It felt good to hear it, even in his mind.

_When did you feel your powers start to come back?_

_Sometime yesterday afternoon. _

_That's odd...I felt the crystal start to pulse – and when it flashed the first time, yesterday morning during the battle...I felt something release – but outside of me as well._

_That is odd...I felt something too...I was too busy at the time to attend to it but -_

_It must be the crystal. _Mamoru concluded. He could feel Jadeite's excitement in his mind.

_The crystal unlocked our powers?_

_It's possible. And if it did, then perhaps I can unlock them further._

_Wait - _

Mamoru wasn't listening. If the crystal could give the Shitennou their powers back, the sooner the better. He concentrated, drawing on the power of the crystal, though he was close to fainting already.

He willed for their powers to be unlocked, feeling the crystal pulse in his heart – he drew just a bit more and felt something give – almost like shoving open a rusted door – and then he lost it completely.

His energy was totally exhausted and he fainted back into the wall, the crystal faded to the tiniest of glows. Mamoru slipped into darkness.

* * *

Ami was sitting outside in the shadows of the evening. She'd decided to skip dinner and after that last argument with Zoisite, nothing really seemed very appetizing. 

Why had he managed to infuriate her so easily? She wasn't one prone to losing her temper – she didn't even know she had a temper until a week ago.

But it wasn't anger that made her run from the room only moments ago. It was embarrassment and fear and ...

Ami shook her head. She'd never felt so mixed up. She wished she could talk to her mother about it – but Ms. Mizuno was working, as usual, and Ami didn't want to force her problems on anyone. Especially not her mother – working so hard to help people who really needed her.

For some reason thoughts of high school came flooding back to her – random memories of spending her days alone in the computer lab or in the classroom, cram school and lab work. What her life had been like before the Senshi – she didn't like to remember.

"Ami?"

She gave a soft gasp and turned around quickly. She saw, as her heart slowed down, that Zoisite had followed her; his thin, wiry frame standing awkwardly behind her, hands in pockets.

It was an odd look for him, she realized – instead of looking cocky and self-absorbed as a Siamese cat, he looked...ashamed.

It almost made her want to laugh, but she wasn't in the mood for that.

"I'm sorry," he sighed, taking a few more steps toward her. The moon cast shadows over his face, illuminating one slender cheek bone and half of his face.

He really did look sorry.

"It's alright -" she sighed, shyly - but blinked when he grabbed her hand.

"It's not alright," he interrupted, "They're right. I do treat you like a plaything. Not like you deserve. And I'm sorry."

To her utter surprise he jerked her into his arms and she found herself being hugged. By a boy.

_Why must he be so...so...pushy!?_ She thought, flustered, and remained stiff in his embrace.

Zoisite thought it was anger.

"I'm really sorry, Ami," he whispered, huskily, "I really am. Alright?"

_Is he going to cry?_ She wondered frantically.

"It's just," his voice did sound very choked up, "I like you so much!"

_What!?_

Ami's mind was spinning frenetically into oblivion. This was the last thing she'd expected him to say. She gingerly reached up and tried to pry his arms from around her but he seemed to want to hold on harder. She gently disengaged herself from him and held him tentatively at arms' length, thanking her lucky stars that it was dark outside and he couldn't see her blushing.

"Calm down, for a moment, please," she pleaded, softly, "I don't understand what you're saying."

He took a deep, shuddering breath and composed himself.

"I like you, Ami. You're almost like my best friend."

Ami let out a sigh of relief, but at the same time she felt a strange twinge of disappointment. How odd.

"We've only known each other for a little more than a week." she pointed out.

"I know, I know," he sighed, "but...the first time I met you – well, not the first time, because you were trying kill me – maybe the second time – no, not then either, because you were holding me prisoner – um..."

"When we first got to know one another," Ami interjected.

"Yes!" he smiled, "See – that's what I mean. We have a connection, Ami. I can feel it."

"You can?" she asked, the doubt in her voice perfectly clear.

"Yes." He nodded.

"I know we must have been close in the past. You remember that first day when I took a really long shower, and then you -"

"Yes, yes!" Ami squeaked – she'd been trying to forget that for days.

"Well, I realized then that you and I," he placed his hands on her shoulders, ignoring her flinch, "we are connected. I know it as sure as I know my own name."

"But you can't remember -" she pointed out.

"I'm speaking metaphorically," he waved an airy hand, "Anyway, the more I've gotten to know you the more I am certain that we were very close in the past – Ami, don't you get it? Can't you feel it?"

Ami was beginning to wonder if she could feel anything with his hands placed so strategically on her shoulders – it made her feel fuzzy.

"We share the same interests, we have the same habits – we're both neat freaks, we can finish each other's sentences – I feel like I know everything about you and I barely even know you. We must have been best friends," he concluded, beaming happily.

Something about what he said felt right, and wrong at the same time. He was a fun boy and a kind friend, and she didn't exactly find him repulsive, but...she didn't know why - he just didn't quite measure up to...to whom? Ami shook her head and felt him release her.

_He is entirely too touchy, _she thought.

"Zoisite, what you've said sort of makes sense," she admitted, "but I don't really understand your behavior. If you've been thinking of me so..so...fondly," she managed, "then why do you constantly go out of your way to -"

"Annoy you?" He finished, "I know it's crazy. But it's just the way I am. When I really like a person, a girl, I mean – I either flirt with her until she can't stand up straight, or I tease her all the time. And, let's face it, Ames, you are just too easy -" he grinned, and playfully tapped her nose.

"But you aren't – oh good gracious – I mean – you said -" she was blushing so hard now her face felt on fire.

He frowned.

"You aren't..." she took a deep breath and steeled herself.

"Flirting with me?" she whispered, her voice ending in a squeak like note.

Zoisite stared at her, blinking his large, green eyes.

Suddenly, to her intense relief and (adversely) annoyance, he burst into laughter.

"Oh, Ami, you're too funny!" he cried.

Ami had the insane urge to pout – and she'd never pouted in her life! She staunchly ignored it.

"So that's why you've been acting like I have cooties," he continued, when he could catch his breath, "you thought I might be flirting with you!"

He continued to laugh and Ami grew redder, crossing her arms primly.

"Well, I'm just not used to such...physical displays of affection," she answered.

He caught her cold tone and immediately sobered.

"I'm sorry," he said, quietly, thought the glint of amusement remained in his eyes, "it's not that I don't find you attractive, but it just never occurred to me – I mean, you seem so – stand offish. Maybe it was our bad first impression – first impressions can do a lot of harm you know."

"What do you mean by that?" Ami asked, startled.

"Well, for starters, you wanted to kill me when I first met you, and usually that turns me off right away. And secondly I can tell you aren't really used to men – so you're very awkward and stiff – which is cute, actually, but after I figured out about our past relationship -"

"Don't you think you're moving a bit fast?" she interrupted, breathlessly.

"I'm just explaining why I'm not flirting with you," he answered, a bit peeved.

"Unless," he stopped, and looked at her speculatively, "You want me to flirt with you."

Ami gulped.

Zoisite grinned.

"Ami, you don't like me do you?" He purred.

"I like you as a friend!" Ami squeaked.

"Good," he said, brightly.

"Then I'm glad that's all cleared up."

Cleared up? Ami felt more muddled than she ever had in her life – and why did she get the feeling she'd just been out-maneuvered?

"Friends, then?" she asked, cautiously.

"Friends," he nodded, and gazed into her eyes sincerely. Just as she was beginning to relax he grabbed her into a hug.

"I've never had a sister before!" he yelled, straining her to his bosom – as the phrase goes.

Ami struggled and squirmed, trying to get away from him.

"I'm not your sister!" she mumbled into his chest. This was exactly the problem - he was entirely too imature.

He rested his chin on her head and sighed happily.

_She smells like lilacs and lilies. _He thought, then frowned. Why did that seem so familiar? That strange feeling of deja vu swept over him again, and he released her suddenly.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

He stared down at her, noticing for the first time how delicate her bone structure was – how daintily her features were formed. He traced the curve of her cheek with his mind and felt that same strange sensation that he'd been here, with her, before. For a moment he felt another person there with him...almost a shadow of himself. He shook his head and smiled.

"I'm fine."

"Let's go inside," she suggested, "I'm a little cold."

"Of course, Mercury," he answered. They both stopped at the suddenly suave, totally mature sound of his voice and words. Zoisite blinked - why did that feeling of confidence feel so...right?

"Did you just -" she began.

"Yeah," he said, putting a hand to his head, "I don't know why..."

He'd always lacked confidence - it was his biggest secret, which was why he tried to project the image of a cocky adolescent - not that he was very mature to begin with but...somehow, for the first time in his life, he felt there was something more inside of him than just a scared, empty fake. He always felt more confident with Ami, maybe her own perfect poise was rubbing off on him. Looking at her petite figure in the moon light made him feel as though he suddenly knew how a lady ought to be treated - and how a woman like her ought to be courted. He shook off his weird thoughts and found her staring at him with a concerned expression. He decided to keep his new found thoughts and emotions to himself and gave her a boyish smile, but Ami wasn't buying it - as usual.

"Come on."

She took his hand and led him back into the house.

* * *

"Well," Makoto said as she made her way down the hall with Nephrite and Rei. 

"They look as though they've patched everything up."

"Yes," Rei nodded suspiciously, watching Ami lead Zoisite toward the end of the hall.

Suddenly she stopped walking and whipped her head back toward the entrance as if she'd just head her name being called.

"I've gotta go, good night, Mako-chan. Nephrite." Rei said hastily and ran back down the hall.

Mako and Nephrite exchanged a questioning look.

"Everything ok?" he asked as she sprinted.

"Fine!" She called back before disappearing around the corner.

Mako shrugged.

"Guess she forgot to put out the fire or something."

Nephrite nodded and they continued their walk down the hall.

"Um."

He stopped, feeling her hand on his arm. They were about three feet from her own door.

He glanced down into her face, noting the hesitant look in her eyes as she gazed up at him. Was that a faint tinge of pink on her cheeks?

"I know about...about the other nights." she said at last.

He sucked in a quick breath and took a step back.

"I can explain," he said, holding his hands in front of him.

"No, it's alright," she said, quickly, "I understand. I just wanted to thank you. For doing that."

He froze. She wasn't going to kill him?

"How long have you known?"

"Only one night. That's why -"

"You've been so considerate lately." he finished.

"Yeah," she answered, ducking her head a little sheepishly. He smiled.

"I'm glad I could help, and I'm glad you didn't take offense."

"Oh, no," she said, her eyes wide, "No, I really appreciate it. I – uh – no one's ever...done something like that for me...I mean."

"My pleasure," he answered, then panicked at the thought that it might sound odd. Where had all his former charming skills gone? He'd been so smoothed tonged in the past – what had happened?

She chuckled and he relaxed.

"So, may I take it you will not be requiring my services further?" he added, just a hint of a seductive tone – as a joke.

She blushed a bit but laughed, her eyes sparkling.

"You would be right," she grinned, "it's not necessary – I'm sure I'll find a way to go to sleep by myself – I am a big girl."

They both chuckled, but he found himself thinking that she looked very young despite her words.

"Uh, well I guess we should both turn in, it's going to be a long day tomorrow – planning and everything," she said.

"Yes, indeed, well, pleasant dreams then," he smiled and, on a whim, took her hand and kissed it in a mockingly courtier-like manner.

She blushed even more and gave a little giggle. It surprised him – he'd had the impression that she liked to appear intimidating and strong to others. Perhaps these unguarded mannerisms meant she was becoming more willing to trust him.

"I've always wanted someone to do that," she laughed, good naturedly pulling her hand away, "ever since I was a little girl."

"I'm glad I could be of assistance."

"Nephrite."

He looked up into her serious, jade gaze.

"Thank you."

He nodded and waited for her to go into her room.

He was relieved that she had found out – it had been a major worry for him that she would find him eventually and seriously maim if not kill him on the spot. But now that she knew his intentions everything was much more open and clear between them. With a sigh of relief he gathered himself together and passed Mina's door to walk outside onto the balcony.

Though everyone else had gone to sleep, or were on their way to it, his night had just begun.

* * *

"Jadeite, for the last time -" Rei broke off as she rounded the corner. 

Jadeite was lying on the ground, pale and breathing hard.

When she touched his forehead with her hands, his eyes fluttered open.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

He took a deep breath and nodded.

She helped him to sit up, keeping her arm around him for support.

"What happened? Why did you call me?"

His opened wide in surprise.

"I didn't call you," he answered, his voice ragged, "Did I?"

"Well I felt you call me," she answered, dryly, "and it certainly got my attention."

"Apologies," he murmured, blinking in a confused fashion.

Her look grew worried.

"What happened? Did you try to contact Mamoru?"

He nodded. She controlled the urge to slap him.

"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't attempt to use your powers unless someone else -"

"I didn't mean to do it," he broke in, harshly, "it just happened. The golden crystal pulled on me and I had no choice – but I made contact with him."

She forgot her anger and worry and gripped his shoulder, her eyes searching his.

"Where is he? Is he alright? Do they still have him as a prisoner? Did they take the crystal from him?"

"One question at a time, Rei," he panted.

She sat back and tried to calm herself for his sake. She could see he wasn't feeling well at all.

"He's unharmed, as far as I know. He still has the crystal but he's also a prisoner. And as for where he is..." Jadeite trailed off, an indecipherable expression on his face.

"Yes?"

His intense gaze flicked up to her face and captured her own.

"He's in the Dark Kingdom."

Rei felt the room spin and grabbed onto his hand and the floor for a moment.

"What?"

"You heard me," he murmured and turned his face away. He didn't want to see the look in her eyes at the mention of that horrible place.

"How can that be? Why would they take him there..." she whispered.

"Could Bery or Metallia possibly be back?"

He shook his head, and suddenly she noticed the waves of fear rolling off of him.

_What a terrible thing – _she realized – _if that's what it is. What if Beryl tries to take them all back? _

Her eyes narrowed.

_I won't let her!_

Rei closed her eyes and gently, hesitantly put her arms around his shoulders, embracing him from behind. It wasn't a motion motivated by anything other than a pure sense of mother love. She suddenly felt responsible for protecting this young man, as though she almost, for a moment, remembered the part of herself that was the avatar – the goddess born half.

"Even if it is," she whispered, fiercely, "I won't let her have any of you."

He didn't reply, but she could feel the fear leak away, only to be replaced by a strange sense of peacefulness, and...something she didn't know how to place.

She pulled away and stood up.

"You need to get some sleep," she ordered, "tomorrow we will tell the others where he is. He'll be safe until morning, right?"

Jadeite nodded, not looking up.

"If they wanted to harm him they would have by now." he replied.

"Fine, eight hours shouldn't hurt anything, though I think I will tell Usagi tonight. Get some rest, Jadeite -"

She offered him her hand and he took it, without really looking at her. She helped him stand and walk back to Mina's room where she left him.

In the dark, Jadeite closed his eyes and tried to sleep – but the memory of amaranthine eyes floated before his face – eyes he couldn't see beyond but which held the mysteries of the ages.

* * *

Nephrite was lost in the stars. Lost in the whirling lights and colors that swirled through his vision, blinding him but allowing him to see. It had been so long since he'd 'talked' to the stars that he could barely find the power he was looking for – the energy that would infuse his brain with images of the past, present and future. 

He finally caught the wayward strand that connected him to the cosmos and breathed in sharply as his mind's eye exploded with a vast array of images, emotions and meanings.

He searched for what felt like years – his mind nearly collapsing under the weight of the power he was now channeling.

Suddenly it stopped and he could see no further. He shut his eyes and let himself slip to the cool floor of the balcony, leaning his head against the rails.

"How can this be?" he whispered, his tone both amazed and pained.

"How could I have forgotten so much?"

_My poor princess..._

His eyes filled with tears.

"How could I have forgotten you?"

* * *

Usagi's eyes were nearly popping out of her head. 

"Are you serious, Mina?"

Mina nodded.

"You and -"

Rei burst through the door at that moment and Mina yelped throwing a hand over Usagi's mouth. Rei stopped to look at them.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing!" Mina exclaimed, innocently.

She removed her hand quickly.

"What's so important that you didn't have time to knock?" she asked, haughtily.

Rei rolled her eyes.

"I was going to wait to tell you this until tomorrow, Mina, but since you're here -" she took a deep breath and caught Usagi's eyes.

"We know where Mamoru is."

"How did you find out!? Where is he!?" Mina yelled, jumping straight up.

Rei found herself on the ground with a tearful Usagi squeezing the air out of her lungs.

"Thank you! Rei-chan! Thank you!" she sobbed.

"Usagi, get off!" Rei growled, trying to wriggle away from the distraught girl. She finally escaped from Usagi only to be confronted by Mina's commanding glare.

"Where is he?"

"He's in the Dark Kingdom."

The two blonds blinked at her in unison. A muscle in her cheek twitched.

"Why in the world would they want to keep him there?" Mina asked.

Usagi began to cry, loudly.

"You are too old to do this," Rei chastised, "you have to act your age."

"But my love is in a horrible, awful, ugly place – with no lights!" she gasped, her blue eyes wide in horror at the sudden recollection.

"That's the worst you can think of?" Rei spluttered.

"Rei," Mina whispered in her ear, "Not helping."

Rei mumbled something fierce and inarticulate.

"I mean, she does have a point," Mina continued, "Not to mention the place is smelly and has that awful wind."

Rei felt like slapping her hand to her forehead but restrained herself.

"Instead of worrying about the décor of the Dark Kingdom, how about we focus on how to get him out of there?" she suggested.

"Of course!" Mina answered, brightly.

"Haruka and Michiru arrived an hour ago but their exhausted, so I'll have to wait to tell them until tomorrow, but for now -"

"Usagi," she commanded, pointing an imperious finger, "Go to bed immediately."

"But -"

"Rei, go tell the others, then wake me up at dawn."

"But why don't we just -"

"On second thought," Mina held out her hand for silence, "I'll just tell them in the morning."

"-tell them tomorrow." Rei finished. She shook her head and said good night to Usagi.

"Tomorrow we will rescue Mamoru and defeat the Quartet once and for all!" Mina declared happily, "and then I can get back to my love life."

Rei almost halted on her way out the door but decided it really wasn't worth the effort.

"Goodnight, Usagi-chan," Mina called, sweetly as she made her way back to her room in high spirits.

"Good night!" Usagi called, smiling tremulously.

Tomorrow they would be reunited.

* * *

Makoto tossed and turned in her sleep. She had determined she wouldn't ask for help, but these dreams – they were so horrible and they only seemed to get worse. She no longer dreamed about the plane crash, the plague or the death of the children she'd found afterwards – now her dreams seemed more like memories – more real and more frightening – though sometimes they were nice. She kept dreaming of a kingdom that fell – and of her own death over and over in a blazing white light that signaled the end of the world. 

She felt a hand on her shoulder and jerked up in the bed, almost fully awake.

"It's alright," she heard a deep voice say calmly. And as if by magic everything certainly did seem to be alright.

"Nephrite?" she asked. It was quite dark in her room – the moon was hidden behind the clouds now – it looked like rain for tomorrow.

"Yes, I'm here. Were you having another dream?"

"Yes," she whispered, sheepishly.

She felt him tentatively slip an arm around her shoulders and she let herself sag a little into his embrace.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." she sighed and wiped her face. She grimaced when she discovered she'd been crying.

"I told you I was big girl," she snorted, "but I guess I'm not as big as I thought I was."

He chuckled, something she could feel through her contact with his chest. He rubbed her arm and pulled her closer.

"It's alright," he said, at last, "It's alright to be small sometimes."

She chuckled, but somehow her chuckling turned into very quiet sobs. She found herself crying – but not in fear or anger – almost in relief.

He pulled her head down gently to rest on his collar bone and she wrapped her arm around his back, putting the other on his chest by her face.

They sat for a moment in silence, simply giving each other the comfort of a sympathetic human presence.

"What were you doing?" she asked, softly, after a while.

"Did you hear me all the way from Mina's room?"

"No," he answered, "Actually I was trying to communicate with the stars, and when I was through I headed back through the hall. I thought I would just check in on you to make sure you were alright."

"Thank you." she whispered.

_If I could have had any family, a brother, even, _- she thought to herself – _this is what it would have been like...to feel so protected..._

"Did it work?" she asked, lifting her head slightly to peer at his profile in the darkness.

"Did you see anything?"

She saw his jaw tighten.

"I did," he replied.

"I saw many things. I saw that Mamoru is alright, and being held in a dark place under the earth."

"Really?"

"I also saw that we will have to make an important decision tomorrow that may cost us our mission if we don't choose wisely. And there will be many battles - some tomorrow as well."

"But mostly, I saw the past." he finished.

"What – What did you see?"

He was silent for so long that she thought perhaps he'd fallen asleep.

"I saw the fall of the Moon Kingdom, and my own betrayal. And I saw – someone I'd forgotten."

"Who?"

He sighed.

"My princess."

He had muttered it so softly she could barely catch the words.

"You were in love?" she guessed.

"Yes."

The emotion in his voice startled her. It was so full of despair and yearning.

"What happened to her? Who was she?"

"I don't know," he choked. He took a moment to calm himself.

"I don't know," he repeated, "I only know that I swore to protect her with my life, and in the end I couldn't. I don't know if she died there at the last battle, or if she lived on and married someone else. Maybe she was reincarnated too...I just don't know."

Mako shifted and put her arms around him to hug him while he returned the embrace. She patted his back soothingly.

"It's alright," she said, "if you really loved her and she loved you then you'll find her again. I'm sure of that."

"That's nice to say," he answered, his voice thick with despair, "but I don't think I'd want her to find me again."

"Why would you say that?" she pulled away sharply.

"Think about it, Makoto," he answered, "I am a betrayer. I betrayed everyone – the whole world – and I obviously forgot her - I wouldn't want that sweet child to remember me."

"Why do you think she would care about all that?" Makoto insisted, angrily.

"People can forgive. You can't just make those decisions for them. And besides, no one's perfect. Even we betrayed you – you can't blame yourself for the past!"

She ended on a thunderous note and the silence that followed it surprised her.

"Don't give up," she whispered, placing a hand on his arm, "She may still need you."

He nodded.

"Thank you, Makoto," he said, at last.

"Tell me about her," Mako urged, leaning back against her pillows.

"Tell me about you and her until I fall asleep."

"Alright," he sighed, and made himself comfortable on the bed beside her.

"She was younger than me, by about five years," he began, "and though she liked to pretend to be tough she was actually very innocent and fragile - little more than a child really."

"I can understand that," Mako nodded, sleepily. He smiled in spite of himself.

"I met her on the Earth – she was lost, I think, or looking for something," he frowned in concentration – remembering details was nearly impossible.

He looked at Makoto, her eyes blinking drowsily as the moon came out again to shimmer on her face.

Something pricked at his mind, but he put it aside. He needed to remember their story so that Makoto could find some peace and rest.

And so that he could as well.


	13. Outside Interference

_The Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter Twelve: Outside Interference**

* * *

The short haired blond smacked herself in the forehead while the gorgeous woman beside her pinched the bridge of her aristocratic nose. 

"Usagi-chan, I can't believe that you let these four misplace the King."

Four very chastened looking girls hung their heads – almost as if they'd been fourteen years olds again.

Haruka put her hands on her hips.

"This is ridiculous!" she shouted, "I was in the middle of trying to make sure that Kyoto didn't run out of food and you drag me back here because you can't do your damn jobs!"

From the doorway Nephrite and Zoisite made a move forward but Jadeite and Kunzite dragged them back.

"This is their meeting," the eldest man whispered, "we would only embarrass them if we interfere."

"Got it," Zoisite snapped.

Nephrite only frowned. He didn't remember the older Senshi – only that they had existed in the past. From what he had witnessed so far, he didn't think he really wanted to get to know them.

"Haruka, we can do our job," Mina spoke up, "And we have done it so far. We've protected the princess, and we know where Mamoru is so we can rescue him too. We just need someone to -"

"Someone to babysit Usagi-chan, I know." Haruka snapped.

"Listen, Minako," Michiru spoke, "We aren't criticizing your leadership skills, but we both have a lot of work to do and have made a lot of sacrifices to do it. I'm not complaining, but if the four of you can't defeat this enemy -"

"We can." Rei interjected.

Everyone turned to look at her in surprise.

"We can defeat them." She repeated, crossing her arms.

"If they're powerful enough to steal the king right from under your nose -"

"They have help," Ami said, "Something is helping them – all we have to do is find the source of it and cut it off."

"Then we'll get them, no problem," Mako added, tightening her fists.

Haruka and Michiru exchanged a speaking look.

"How long will it take you?" Haruka sighed at last.

"We can do it in two days!" Mina cried, striking an impressive pose.

The other three looked at her in fear and panic.

"Two days?" Haruka repeated, smirking.

"This I have to see," Michiru murmured.

"Alright," Haruka spoke up, "Two days. You're in and out, and we're gone – so make it snappy. I don't have time to waste babysitting monarchs-to-be -"

A door opened and Usagi burst into the room.

"No matter how cute they are." Haruka finished.

"What did I miss?" Usagi asked, breathlessly.

"Oh, nothing," Rei snipped, "Haruka and Michiru agreed to stay here to protect you, and our fearless leader promised them that we would rescue Mamoru and defeat the enemy in two days."

Usagi blinked.

"That's wonderful!" she cried, "Thank you Haruka-san and Michiru-san! Thank you everyone!"

"Mamo-chan back in two days!" she whispered to herself.

Rei directed a deathly glare at her superior. Mina only shrugged.

"We can do it in two days," she murmured to the three Senshi, "We have a plan, we have his location, and we know the Quartet's weakness – what more do we need?"

Ami opened her mouth but was interrupted.

"So it's decided then?" Michiru asked, trying to ignore Usagi's continued effusive demonstrations.

"You Senshi will go alone into the Dark Kingdom and rescue Mamoru? In two days, of course," she added with a smile.

"Of course," Mina said, with equal suavity.

"If I may interrupt, Uranus-san," a deep voice called from the end of the room.

The older Senshi looked up to see the four Shitennou regarding them uneasily – all except Kunzite, of course.

"So this is them." Haruka snorted.

Michiru narrowed her eyes and put a light hand on the other woman's arm.

"You're the traitors who came back from the dead."

Haruka and Michiru approached them slowly.

They stopped two feet away and simply stared at the four men with matching cold expressions.

"We are Mamoru's guardians," Kunzite answered quietly, "And we would like to be given the chance to rescue him. To do our job."

Haruka smirked.

"Have you spoken with the leader? I don't think she mentioned you in her plans."

Kunzite frowned.

"I think Usagi would allow us to -"

"Usagi's not our leader," Haruka snapped.

"Then, I suppose I should be asking -"

"Her." Michiru said and dropped a shoulder to point at Mina who was in a deep discussion with the other Senshi and Usagi.

The Shitennou's eyes widened.

"I know she is the leader of the Queen's guard, but surely you don't -"

"Technically, we're free agents," Michiru agreed, "but we're in her jurisdiction right now, and anything that concerns Usagi is Minako's jurisdiction."

"So you'll have to square it with her if you want to come," Haruka finished, her smirk turning into a rather evil looking grin.

Kunzite looked grim, squaring his jaw with new determination.

"I see," he said.

Haruka chortled and Michiru smiled.

"Good luck with that," they chorused.

"But we're Mamoru's guard!" Zoisite exclaimed, "it's our job -"

"You're a whiny one, aren't you?" Haruka interrupted.

Zoisite snapped his mouth shut and glared at her.

"Minako, may we have a moment alone with the Shitennou?" Michiru called over her shoulder.

"Uh, of course," Mina called back, quickly ushering everyone else out of the room, pausing to throw a worried glance over her shoulder.

When the door shut the two Senshi walked to the chairs in the corner of the room and sat down, crossing their legs.

"So, let's have a little chat, shall we?" Michiru invited.

The Shitennou glanced at one another nervously and found seats in the other chair, the low table and the floor.

"Now, from what the Senshi have told us," Michiru began, "You four showed up on their door step, miraculously, and have been causing trouble ever since. I understand that you," she looked at Kunzite, "are their leader, so what do you have to say for yourself?"

Kunzite cleared his throat.

"It is true that for a reason unknown to us, but which may have involved the Senshi, we betrayed our king in the ancient past. In the present that curse of evil remained and we were forced to repeat our actions – now we are finally free of it and we want to return to our original duties."

"And you expect everything to go back to normal?" Haruka asked.

"What do you mean?"

Haruka and Michiru exchanged another look. Jadeite wished very hard that his powers weren't so weak – their brand of telepathy was far more cunning than his own.

"They really don't remember," Michiru murmured in the other woman's ear.

"Should we tell them?"

"I don't think so."

"Tell us what?" Zoisite asked.

"Pipe down, pipsqueak!" Haruka snapped. Zoisite looked furious but he clenched his lips and fists.

"You remember the past?" Nephrite guessed.

Haruka and Michiru stared at him for a long moment.

"Yes," the turquoise haired woman said at last.

"We remember more than the other Senshi and yourselves," Haruka added, "I think that's obvious, although I don't really know why."

"We started to remember ever since we first became Senshi.," Michiru explained, "Our memories have returned to us naturally and slowly, but we remember a great deal now, including exactly why you betrayed your King and how the Senshi were involved."

"You know?" Nephrite breathed.

"Tell us!" Zoisite exclaimed.

"Please," he added at a harsh look from Haruka.

"Uh-uh." Haruka shook her head, "Nothing doing, shorty. That's for you and the Senshi to figure out and it has nothing to do with you rescuing Mamoru."

"But how can we figure it out?" Jadeite asked, pointedly, "We can't solve it like a puzzle – the answer is in our own minds in a place we can't reach -"

"Then I suggest you start trying to reach it," Michiru interjected.

"Now, no more questions," Haruka began, "You're going to answer us for a change."

Jadeite glanced at Nephrite, both felt a sudden chilly suspicion creeping up their spines.

"What do you want to know?" Kunzite asked.

"What are your intentions?"

It was an odd question, with no explanation and Kunzite answered as best he could.

"We are planning to rescue the King," Kunzite answered.

"That's not what I meant," Haruka chuckled, "but we can start with that."

"If by some miracle Minako allows you to accompany them, although you'd really only be in the way, and if by some miracle you all manage to rescue Mamoru without getting killed, what will you do after he's safe?"

They were silent for a moment under the heated gaze of the two women.

"We will retire back into our original forms as stones," Kunzite said.

"So you'll give up all this," Haruka gestured around her, "you'll give up your new friends, and your king and your lives? For what?"

They shifted uncomfortably.

"We deserved those prisons," Jadeite said, at last.

"We deserve to be locked up so that we can never repeat our mistakes."

The two women stared at them for some moments in silence.

"That's crap." Haruka said.

The Shitennou blinked.

"Utter crap."

"Haruka," Michiru put her hand on Haruka's shoulder.

"No, it is!" her partner insisted, "That's the stupidest piece of bullocks I've ever heard."

"Uranus-san -"

"My name is Haruka, pipsqueak, and I am telling you all that you are full of self-pitying crap. Is this what the others have to put up with every day? I can't believe they aren't as depressed as they used to be."

"Depressed?" Kunzite asked, in confusion.

"Yeah, depressed," Haruka repeated, standing so that she could pace and gesticulate with greater ease.

"Ever since the plague they've been sinking lower and lower into this self-pitying haze and then you four come along. And I don't know how, and I didn't want to believe Setsuna when she said -"

Michiru cleared her throat and Haruka caught herself.

"I mean, but here you are and they are just like they used to be. So what is your secret? What did you do to cheer our little sisters up?"

"I don't understand, we don't have anything to do with the Senshi personally -" Jadeite began.

"Oh, shut up! Can't you see that the Senshi need your help? They may not need your physical help but they do need someone to be there for them and it might as well be you four."

The Shitennou were utterly nonplussed.

"She is right," Michiru added, in a softer tone, "they've been fighting alone for a long time – They are all very much alone, and even though they're Senshi they still need someone to help them. They need -"

She broke off as she felt Haruka's warning eyes on her.

"Friends," Haruka finished.

"I don't understand," Kunzite said, "Why are you saying all this?"

"Because we remember how it used to be," Haruka said, an almost soft expression stealing over her face.

"We remember the innocent little girls they were when we first met them – and we want them back. Crystal Tokyo may be built on our sweat and blood and tears, but it sure as hell better be fun when we're through." she added, as Michiru discreetly took her hand.

"We can't tell you much more," Michiru said, "But we believe, and we have it on good authority from a woman who knows what she's talking about, that the eight of you must learn to work together in order for Crystal Tokyo to come about."

"You need to help them," Haruka finished, "And if you aren't prepared to do that then you need to get lost."

The men stared at one another in silence.

"It's also high time that you grew up." Michiru added.

"Grew up?" Jadeite asked.

"Yeah, as in remember who you are and who you were. Right now the four of you still act like young men – like normal humans raised in the twentieth century – but you aren't. You're kings and the guardians of kings. You need to remember how to be kings again. Especially you, pipsqueak." Haruka added, scowling at Zoisite.

To their surprise he turned red and had no snarky comments to make. Instead he looked both ashamed and thoughtful.

"And one last thing," Michiru said, "it wouldn't hurt for you to try to get to know the Senshi a bit better. Don't be afraid to get close to them. They are just as much to blame for this mess as you are."

"And it wouldn't hurt them to grow up a bit too." Haruka mentioned.

"Well, that's a comforting thought," Jadeite muttered.

Haruka smirked and whacked him on the back in a chummy manner.

"That's what I'm talking about. Now, go try to convince Minako to take you with her."

"Good luck," Michiru said, rising to follow Haruka out of the room, "You'll need it."

They both exited into the hall but Nephrite flew out the door behind them.

"Wait," he called, "can you tell me -"

He stopped, reddening a bit. But they waited for him.

"I remembered something the other night, something I can't believe that I forgot – about...can you tell me – did you ever meet the woman who was my...my princess?" he asked.

Haruka and Michiru were startled but they hid their emotions well.

"You remember your princess?" Michiru asked, carefully.

"Yes," he said, "I know that we were...in love...but I don't know who she was or what happened to her...do you remember her?"

They gave him a very odd look.

"Yeah," Haruka cleared her throat, "Um, I don't really know that much – we never really spent much time with the other -"

Michiru pinched her lightly.

"In the inner solar system," Haruka stumbled.

"She did love you, if that's what you're worried about," Michiru added, kindly.

"I know that," he said, "but what I want to know is what happened to her?"

The two women looked at each other, trying to decide if they should venture out on this precarious limb.

"Please," Nephrite pleaded.

Michiru smiled and squeezed Haruka's hand.

"She died in the last battle," Haruka said, at last, "but she was reincarnated."

Nephrite's face froze, his eyes locked on Haruka's.

"She's alive?" he whispered.

"Yes," Haruka frowned, "But I won't tell you anything more. You need to figure it out for yourself."

* * *

"Well, that was unexpected." 

The men turned to look at one another with rather shell shocked expressions. They had all been deeply affected by the Senshi's words.

Kunzite seemd to be staring with intense concentration at the lower left leg of the table.

"The elder Senshi are correct," he murmured, "It is time we remembered who we are."

"How can we remember?" Zoisite asked softly; he seemed preoccupied with his thoughts.

"I don't know, we'll just have to try. The most important thing is to rescue Mamoru, we will have to become what we once were to do that."

"If we don't get him back soon, I think I'm going to go crazy," Jadeite sighed.

"We all know how you feel," Nephrite murmured, walking back in.

"We'll get him back," Kunzite said, "but we must learn to work with the Senshi to make that happen."

"The Stars were clear about that," Nephrite said, "The Senshi are going to make a decision today – I think we have to go with them. We have to help them or they won't make it. No one will."

"I will talk to Min- to Miss Aino. And when the time comes, we must be willing to do whatever it takes to help the Senshi – even if it means our own lives."

They nodded – all of them more than prepared for this instance.

"I think," Zoisite spoke up, "I think that I have been remembering something about the past. I think that Miss Mizuno and I were friends...or close in someway."

"I feel the same way about Miss Kino," Nephrite agreed, "I think we must have been friends."

Kunzite frowned.

"I had a talk with Miss Aino," he said slowly, "And from what she remembers of our pasts I can say that we did have a relationship of some kind..."

The others blinked at him in surprise.

"You and -"

He nodded but from the look on his face they knew better than to pursue that thought.

The other men held their tongues, a new suspicion rankling in their minds. But Kunzite? The thought of him and Miss Aino...no, it was impossible.

Jadeite clearly wanted to remain silent but Nephrite caught his eye and he grimaced.

"I...have a sort of...friendship with Miss Hino," he admitted, "she and I seem to work together well. We were probably comrades in the past."

Nephrite frowned but didn't press the point and Jadeite didn't offer anything else.

"So it would seem there is a lot we don't remember," Kunzite summarized, "and the sooner we remember it the better for us all."

* * *

"That was interesting," Michiru mentioned, leaning her head on Haruka's shoulder as they walked down the hall to find the other Senshi. 

"Yeah, I guess Setsuna was right after all. I knew the kids needed more of a family than the rest of us can provide, but – I never would have guessed or believed. I mean, if I didn't remember it myself."

"I know," Michiru chuckled.

"But," she continued, frowning, "I'm not sure it will work out like it did in the past. Things don't really happen like that, do they?"

"It did for us," Haruka answered, surprised.

"That's true, but we still aren't the same people we were."

"No," Haruka agreed, turning to place a quick kiss on the top of Michiru's head.

"That's why I wonder if..."

"Hm?"

Haruka stopped to look into Michiru's face – she caught the mischievous glint in the other woman's eye.

"You want to meddle, don't you?" she accused.

Michiru smirked.

"Only a little."

"Setsuna said -"

"Oh, fiddle on Setsuna!"

Haruka laughed and tucked Michiru's hand through her arm, resuming their walk.

"We'll see."

"I guess with all this free time on our hands," Haruka continued, "we'll have to have something to occupy our time with. Especially now that I get to see you for longer than an hour a day."

Michiru smiled.

"It's been a long time since our last vacation."

"This is more like a babysitting venture than a vacation."

Michiru chuckled at Haruka's complaining tone.

"Well, let's see what we can do to liven the place up while we're here then." she suggested.

* * *

"Absolutely not!" Mina's clear voice rang out in the meeting hall. 

She and Kunzite faced each other down in matching poses – arms crossed on their chests, legs planted firmly, and chins high.

"Please, Miss Aino," he said, but his tone didn't sound very pleading – it sounded angry.

"No, you cannot come and that is final."

"Mina's right," Mako put in, "Something might happen to you."

"But that's what you said last time," Nephrite argued, "And look what happened to you."

"This is different, we know who we're fighting and how to fight them."

"And your powers aren't completely back," Ami pointed out, "if we were separated you might not be able to defend yourselves."

The other men opened their mouths to speak but Zoisite, who up until now had been unusually quiet, cut them off.

"Miss Mizuno," he said, his tone calm and poised. Ami and the others blinked.

"It is touching that you are so concerned for our safety," he continued smoothly, giving her a smile that made her shiver for some reason, "but there really is no need. I assure you – we are all perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves."

Ami realized she was blushing and staring into his eyes.

"When did you get all princely?" Mako asked in surprise.

Instead of retorting, Zoisite merely shrugged elegantly.

"I thought it was time to act my age."

"Something weird is going on here," Rei muttered, glancing at Haruka and Michiru sitting in the corner. They both wore matching innocent expressions.

"Something very suspicious."

"Leaving aside Zoisite's bizarre behavior," Mina interrupted, ignoring his squeak of protest, "Why should I allow you to go with us? You'll just get yourselves killed."

Kunzite studied Ami's expression as she covertly watched Zoisite, who was, oddly enough, taking Haruka's lecture to heart – and then he glanced back at Mina.

For a moment he tried to relax and remember what it felt like to be a king – emotions and memories suddenly raced through his head and he gazed down at Mina with a new expression on his face.

"Miss Aino," he said, taking her hand and ignoring her shocked look, "I am aware that the Senshi are marvelous fighters, and that you are devoted to my king's safety, but I must stress that it would ease my conscience considerably if you would allow us to accompany you. Not for my prince's sake, but for your own."

"Besides this, princess," he continued, "thanks to our prince we have regained a large amount of control over our powers. Perhaps we may even be of service to you in this venture."

With that, he did something he had only done once before in the present age – he smoothed her hand and put a small, respectful kiss on it. He felt something odd stir in his mind and heart but he ignored it for the present moment, too caught up in his memories.

Mina gasped. Rei and Mako merely stared at him as though they didn't know who he was. Ami was too busy trying not to stare at Zoisite to notice the commotion.

"Well," Mina stuttered, trying to gather her thoughts – in the confusion her newly acquired memories were washing over her and causing her to forget where she was for the moment.

With a shy smile she flicked the corner of her knee length skirt and said:

"In that case, I would be honored for the Shitennou to accompany us, my lord. Though I must insist that you take your orders from me." Her tone on those last words went from shy to positively flirtatious.

Mako and Rei snapped their heads together.

"Why the hell is she talking like that?" Mako whispered.

"I think they think they're in the Silver Millennium." Rei replied.

They continued to watch, spellbound.

"It will be as you have said," Kunzite bowed – not deeply, but he managed to make it look both respectful and polished even in jeans and a sweater.

Mina hid a giggle behind her hand.

Her giggle seemed to be the impetus he needed to snap him out of his memory induced grandiloquence.

"Thank you, Miss Aino." He said, shaking his head slightly.

"My name is -" Mina stopped suddenly, then shook her head and blushed a bit.

"Hey, you tricked me!" she yelled.

"I'm very sorry, but you did agree," Kunzite pointed out.

"You -" she pointed her finger at him menacingly but didn't seem to be able to come up with anything else.

Kunzite couldn't resist a slight smirk. Perhaps remembering how to be a king was not so bad after all.

"That's settled then," Haruka grinned, avoiding Rei's probing eyes.

"And not a moment too soon, either," Michiru added, "It's time for you to leave – the sun is almost completely over the horizon."

The looked out the dark window to see that the night sky had turned into a faint purple and pink wash of light.

"Alright," Mina nodded, "Senshi, it's time."

"Shitennou, ready yourselves," Kunzite commanded.

"I'm ready!" Usagi called, clutching her broach tightly.

They all turned to stare at her.

"You aren't coming, Usagi-chan," Rei said gently.

"What?"

Usagi looked at them with wide eyes.

"What do you mean I'm not coming? I'm one of the Senshi – I'm Sailor Moon. And that's my future husband we're talking about – of course I'm coming!"

"But, Usagi, it isn't safe for you," Ami explained, patiently, "what if something happened to you? That's why Haruka and Michiru are here – they gave up their time to protect you."

They watched in surprise as Usagi's delicate features became serious. Her large blue eyes flashed silver and became steady.

"I understand, Ami-chan," she said, quietly, and they heard a power in her voice that had never been there before.

"For more years than I can remember you have always protected me," she spoke, quietly, "you've done everything for me. But it is time for me to start protecting you. I will be the Queen soon, it's time you let me act like one."

They were silent.

"Thank you, Haruka and Michiru, for coming to protect me, but I would rather you governed here in my stead while I go to rescue the King."

Haruka and Michiru stood up.

"Are you sure, my Queen?" Haruka asked, her voice rather hoarse.

Usagi nodded. They looked at one another, communicating their complete amazement at her transformation. Michiru swallowed.

"If that's what you think is best then..." she sighed, and straightened, "We won't disappoint you, Usagi."

Usagi smiled and turned to the other Senshi and Shitennou.

"We'll keep in touch with you," Ami called to Haruka and Michiru.

"Just keep an eye out for each other." Michiru said.

"Are you ready, Venus?"

"Yes, my Queen!" Mina couldn't help but let her smile beam. Her excitement and happiness spread to the other Senshi who found themselves grinning at each other in anticipation.

The Shitennou felt hopeful, soon they would finally be reunited with their King.

She and the others transformed and held hands with the Shitennou and Sailor Moon.

With a flash of light they were gone.

* * *

Mercury tapped her foot in the snow, waiting. The North Pole was bitterly cold - if it weren't for the protective covering of heat that Zoisite had created around them by speeding up the air molecules and causing friction they'd all have frozen sometime ago. She stole a quick glance at him, standing some few feet from her, concentrating with his hands rasied at waist level. 

His curly hair was waving in the air, floating around his face but it didn't seem to distract him. He was still wearing Mamoru's borrowed clothing - the Shitennou had no transformations like the Senshi - but in spite of his casual appearance there was a new sense of power and confidence around him. Where had it come from? Why was he acting so strangely, she wondered. And why was she feeling so strangely about this?

"So, Mercury, how's it going?"

She looked down at her wrist and saw Haruka smiling up at her.

She sighed.

"We're looking for the entrance right now - I think it shouldn't take us too much longer."

"Great. How's everyone holding up?"

"Thanks to Zoisite we're all quite comfortable," she smiled. She didn't see him flick a glance toward her.

"Really?"

Mercury detected a note in Haruka's voice that should have warned her.

"What do you think about Zoisite?"

She blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Haruka drawled, "what do you think about Zoisite?"

Mercury blushed. What did she think of Zoisite? And why was Haruka asking her? Again the suspicion that there was something Mina hadn't told her about the past crossed her mind.

"Why?"

"I'm just curious. Usagi said that you two were living together for a little while. I don't really know him, so..."

"Um..." she lowered her voice, "Well, he's...quite...nice."

"Nice?" Haruka snorted.

"I mean," Mercury spluttered, "I mean...he's a good friend."

"So you two are friends?" Haruka asked, surprised.

"I would say so," Mercury said, beginning to become rather frosty in her answers.

"Hm...do you think he's.."

"Mercury!"

She looked up, relieved to hear Venus' call.

"Bring your computer I think we found it!"

She nodded and turned the communicator off. As she looked up again Zoisite caught her eye and smiled. It wasn't his usual playful smile, this smile somehow made him look older. It made her feel...rather...gooey. Mercury cleared her throat and smiled shyly back, then quickly broke off eye contact and walked over to the group.

In front of Venus and Kunzite there was an opening in the ice about three feet wide and five feet tall. Inside was a deep darkness but as she listened closely she thought she heard a soft, moaning wind.

She pulled out her computer and began to run a scan on it. The information on the screen showed similar patterns to the same hole she'd found six years ago. The thought made her a bit queasy.

"This is it," she said, quietly.

Venus nodded and turned to the others.

"Senshi, this is it. I'm sure I don't need to remind you how dangerous this place can be. We must try to stick together at all costs, but if we are separated we will meet here at the opening. Be on your guard."

Mars, Jupiter, Mercury and Moon nodded.

"We're coming Mamo-chan," Moon whispered.

* * *

From his position on the floor, Mamoru rose stiffly. For a moment he'd almost thought he'd heard... 

Footsteps sounded in the darkness and he opened his eyes.

Four figures dressed in black came into view. His eyes widened.

"Hello, your majesty."

"Are you ready to give us the crystal now?"

"Or shall we take it from you?"

Apollo, Vulcan, Hyperion and Titan grinned - their eyes were clouded with shadows, the black tattoos on their chests had spread up their necks to cover their faces, and hands.

Mamoru could sense the dark energy rolling off them in waves. He desperately called on the golden crystal and transformed.


	14. Shadow of the Past

**A.N. **Here's a quick note: I think there may have been some confusion with the last chapter – Haruka didn't go with them, she was talking to Mercury through her communicator. I didn't state it out right because I figured you guys would get the general gist. I'm sorry for the confusion and I hope this chapter makes more sense. This is a long one. - A.C.

_

* * *

The Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter Thirteen: Shadow of the Past**

* * *

Mamoru's head cracked against the rock wall with a sickening thud. 

For a moment the room became very blurry and he lost the sensation of where his feet were – and as a consequence he tripped and fell over.

He heard the hiss of the black bolt of energy that had once been light come whizzing for him and he quickly rolled to the side with inches to spare.

"You can't keep fighting us; while we have an inexhaustible supply of energy – you do not. Give up, Endymion."

_Endymion?_ He wondered, vaguely. How had the Quartet known his name?

He stood shakily, the golden crystal supplying him with warmth, and raised his sword in front of his body.

"I don't want to kill you!" he shouted, his voice hoarse.

Apollo laughed – but even through the haze of his mind Mamoru realized that the laughter sounded unnatural, and not at all like the man's normal voice.

"Who are you?" he snarled. He began to draw on the energy of the golden crystal while thinking of a way to distract the men...

"The Shadow's Quartet," Apollo said and raised his bow to shoot another black bolt of energy at Mamoru.

"Why won't the others speak?" he called, desperately trying to pull more energy before the other man struck.

"Silence!" Apollo shrieked and released his arrow.

At the last minute Mamoru flung his sword up in front of him and managed to deflect the arrow, but its force thrust him back against the wall again and sent his sword spinning into the darkness. He was defenseless now, except for the crystal. He felt something inside him tugging at the crystal, as if prompting him to use it in a specific way – but he had no idea what it wanted him to do.

"Surrender now." Apollo's dead voice called. Mamoru looked up to find the other man standing above him, with his own sword pointed at his chest.

It was an odd time to notice such things, surrounded as he was by the four men and trapped in the prison of the Dark Kingdom, but he couldn't help but cringe at the black eyes of his companions. All of their eyes had turned to a solid onyx color, the tattoos – dark and jagged – made strange shadows on their faces. The other three men looked blankly at him, as if they didn't recognize him, while Apollo's face held a sneer.

"Who are you?" Mamoru whispered fiercely. His golden crystal glowed faintly as if in warning.

Apollo smiled.

"You don't recognize me, Endymion? And yet we've met so many times. Give me your crystal – though it is worthless to me, once it is destroyed I can finally destroy the one who imprisoned me. You see, I have come to understand the way the universe must work – I'll abide by its rules...for now."

Mamoru felt a great fear as he looked into the black on black eyes of the erstwhile leader. He wasn't sure, but a suspicion had formed in his mind as to who the real culprit might be...

He prayed he was wrong.

"Who were they?" the question was out of his mouth before he even knew he'd thought it.

"Pawns," Apollo replied, "merely pawns. They are guardians of a future king of your world, who will never awaken. I found them wondering through the deeper regions of the – well," he smiled, "let's just say, I found them lying around. I woke them up before their time and forced them to travel to your world to do my bidding. They were quite useful. I had this one send the plague to earth to weaken you when I first woke them – to see how far my power could reach. I was pleasantly surprised."

Mamoru felt the urge to gag as he heard the creature chuckle with Apollo's vocal chords.

"You tricked them," he said, "You lied to them about the crystal so that they could get it for you."

"Yes," Apollo conceded.

"And now, I have what I want. Give me the crystal – I will get it one way or the other, and then Serenity -"

Without warning Mamoru lifted his hands and blasted Apollo point blank in the face with all the light from the golden crystal that he could managed.

Apollo and the others went hurtling back against the opposite wall, screaming in fury, while Mamoru sprinted to the far side to find the door. He knew it only opened from the outside, unless one kept it open, and that Apollo had sealed it off when he entered the room, but if he could find it somehow, he could get free and warn them...warn her that -

He yelped as he felt black tendrils of energy wrapping around him, hauling him back to the center of the room.

He struggled and bucked, trying to release the power of the golden crystal, but he didn't have much control and was too frantic to let himself slip back into Endymion. He had to warn Usagi, before the thing could get free again...

* * *

"Do you feel anything?" 

Jadeite paused and Mars nearly ran into him.

"I think he's somewhere to our left," he said, quietly, "but it's almost impossible to tell in here. There's something about the atmosphere that almost makes a buffer for my abilities."

She had not asked him if returning to the place he referred to as 'hell' was difficult for him. She could see in his tense expression and in the way he held himself that being in the Dark Kingdom again was the most acute kind of torture - for all of the Shitennou.

She reached out a hand impulsively and took his own, holding it for a moment, willing him to feel calm – protected.

He glanced down at their hands and up into her face – she saw a strange yet familiar sensation flicker across his eyes.

_Why does it all seem so familiar...? _she wondered.

_Because we've been here before, princess..._

She glanced at him sharply and he blinked.

_What's going on?_

_I don't know...I'm not sure why I said that...it's just that it feels familiar to me too..._

His eyes were opened wide in incredulity and confusion - she believed that he hadn't known what he meant.

"Are you alright, Mars? Jadeite? Did you find something?"

Venus was watching them, almost nervously.

"No, not really. We were just – trying to concentrate."

_Rei...I think - we really need to talk-_

_Not now. Later._

He nodded slowly – unsure if they understood one another or not.

He looked ahead through the unbearable darkness of the tunnel to see Venus and Kunzite walking side by side, Kunzite holding a faint ball of light suspended off of his palm to light their way.

"Venus," Sailor Moon whispered. Mars, Jupiter and Jadeite were close enough to hear her but Venus drew Moon a little apart from the others so that they could talk as they descended.

"What is it?"

"I've been thinking," Moon murmured, letting her eyes wander to Mars and Jadeite walking together, and then further back to where Zoisite followed closely behind Mercury, making up the rear of their group.

"Remember what you told me about you and...you know – in the past?"

Venus nodded, wondering why, of all times and places Usagi would pick this particular moment to bring up the subject.

"Well, do you think maybe you weren't the only ones?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, though she was fairly sure she already knew the answer to that question.

"Well," Moon hesitated, then stumbled on a rock. Venus gave her her hand and they walked on – hand in hand.

"I mean," she whispered, "Mars and Jadeite seem kind of...closer...don't you think? And also – I could almost swear that Zoisite is...is...well..."

Venus sighed. Should she finally expose the secret? In the past she wouldn't have hesitated to share juicy gossip with her best friend, but somehow she felt that some things needed to remain hidden. Still, she had wrestled with herself over the issue – and if she was going to make the most of what the past had given her...well, was it fair to keep that from the others too?

"In the past," she began, haltingly, "things were...different. I can't be completely sure about whether or not the others were in a similar...situation...as you-know-who and I, but I can say that there was definitely something more than friendship between us all..."

She stopped, fearing that even that was too much. But Moon merely nodded.

"I thought so," she answered, "I had a feeling deep down that they were tied to you in some way. And this makes sense."

"How exciting, huh?" she added, smiling.

Venus smiled too and shook her head. Only her princess could find something to be happy about in a place utterly devoid of the emotion.

"I've noticed that," Moon continued, "they've all started to act more...regal. More like -"

"More like their Silver Millennium selves," Venus finished.

"Maybe they've remembered more about the past and it's changing them."

"Would that mean that all of us would change, if we started to remember more about the past?"

"Well, you're already changing," Venus pointed out, "you sound more like Princess Serenity now – and you are starting to act more like your mother."

"I am?" Moon asked, absurdly pleased and surprised at this information.

Venus nodded.

"And I don't know if you've noticed but Mars is a bit more...poised. She's almost starting to look like a -"

"Princess," Moon concluded.

"How weird," Venus commented, "I wonder if I'm changing too?"

"Do you think we'd forget who we are?" Moon asked suddenly, a little worried.

"I don't know," Venus answered, thoughtfully, "But if we're remembering who we used to be, and still who we are – then we'll just be ourselves, won't we?"

They both frowned in thought and didn't notice Kunzite trying not to smile.

"Do you know where you're going?" Jupiter asked.

"I think so," Kunzite replied, evenly.

"I don't remember much about this place," Nephrite put in, "but I think we're headed toward the throne room, right?"

Kunzite only grimaced but they took it as a 'yes'.

Suddenly they came to a dead end. There were two hallways, one to the left and the other to the right, branching off of the main hall. Kunzite stood between them, wavering for the first time.

"Not sure which way to go?" Venus asked.

He shook his head.

"Hm...Mars, Jadeite, do either of you feel anything?"

They looked at each other and then back at the group.

"I can't sense much, but I think I can feel the pull of the crystal in this direction." Jadeite offered.

"But that isn't a positive," he added, darkly.

Venus and Kunzite shared a measured glance.

"I think we'll have to split up," Venus said, at last, and Kunzite nodded.

"Why don't you take a group down that hall," she pointed to the right, "And I'll take the rest with me. We can let each other know what we find and meet up later."

He frowned at this, not liking the idea of splitting up – but there seemed no alternative if they wanted to find Mamoru as quickly as possible.

"Let's be efficient about this," Venus began, "if we split the groups fairly evenly everything should work out well – that means, let's see – um...Mercury, you can be in my group and we'll use your computer to help us figure out where we are, and then Jadeite, you can go in the other group and use your abilities to locate Mamoru."

They nodded hesitantly and moved to obey. Venus noted the way Mar's eyes flitted to Jadeite, as did Zoisite's to Mercury's face. Evidently Kunzite noticed it as well, though he remained stoic.

"In that case, I suggest that Zoisite accompany you as he is the stealthiest member of this party, and besides myself, he is the most well rounded fighter. And then if Mars will accompany me we should be evenly matched for power."

Venus nodded, but Mercury spoke up:

"I beg your pardon," she argued, "but it seems to me that it would make more sense if Zoisite went with you, Kunzite, and if Mars went with us. That way we would have two brains and two psychics on both teams."

Kunzite stole a quick glance at Venus – who shrugged as if to say 'I tried'.

"That's true," he admitted, "how would you then divide the groups?"

"Venus, myself, Sailor Moon and Mars and Nephrite," she counted off, "And then you, Jadeite, Zoisite and Jupiter. That way, each team has a leader, a technician, a seer and someone with a lot of physical power. And Jupiter ought to go with you because she can protect you more efficiently than we can."

Zoisite crossed his arms.

"But what if someone attacks you, love?" he asked.

Mercury wasn't the only one who jumped at the name. His fellow Shitennou gave him an odd look which he completely ignored.

"I remember something similar happening to us when we were playing our second game of -" he said a word in a language no one understood, and continued, "and you made a similar grouping. And I won because I attacked your weak side because you'd given up your strongest piece."

They all stared at him for a few tense minutes.

"Um...Zoi," Nephrite said, putting a hand on the other man's shoulder, "Do you feel alright?"

"Never better," the younger man shrugged, "Why? Do I look ill?"

"No, you just aren't acting like yourself," Neph replied.

"Or rather," Venus interjected, "you're acting like your past self."

Zoisite blinked, suddenly looking younger.

"I am? That's funny," he put a hand to his head, "I don't feel any different."

They all looked at one another, uneasily.

"May I make a suggestion?" Sailor Moon asked, timidly.

They all turned to hear her.

"I think that Zoisite should go with Venus and Mercury – that way Mercury can keep an eye on him and make sure that he doesn't get too confused, and that he isn't sick."

"That's a good idea," Mercury nodded, eying Zoisite with concern. He looked very confused at the moment.

"And then," Sailor Moon went on, "I think that Mars should come with us and Jupiter should go with the Shitennou to protect them."

Venus caught Kunzite's eye and he nodded.

"That's what it is, then," Venus chirped, "Let's go. In exactly half an hour you need to contact us, unless you run into anything interesting before that."

Kunzite nodded.

"Be careful," Jadeite whispered to Mars, briefly touching her hand, "I have a bad feeling."

"You be careful," she replied, smiling wryly, "we have a conversation to finish."

He opened his mouth, then closed it and stepped away from her – the same odd look in his eyes.

"If you need me," he murmured, "you can -"

"I know," she answered, sharply, "now get a move on."

He smiled at her sharp tone, knowing what it meant and turned to follow Kunzite, Jupiter and Nephrite into the darkness.

"What will we use for a light?" Moon asked, a little nervously.

"Oh," Venus replied, smiling, "Don't worry."

With that she pulled out her chain and wrapped it around her arm and hand – then powered up let her energy flow into the chain where it remained giving off a slight glow. It wasn't as bright as Kunzite's light, but it was enough for them to see. She took Moon's hand in her free hand and began walking into the tunnel. She didn't see Kunzite throw a swift look at her over his shoulder before they disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

"Oh!" 

Venus stopped immediately and ran to Moon's side. Sailor Moon was clutching her chest, her eyes wide in fear and pain.

"What is it!?" Venus demanded.

"M-Mamoru. He's – we have to find him, right now!" Sailor Moon yelled. She bolted down the hallway as fast as she could – her broach suddenly lighting up like a beacon.

"Sailor Moon, wait!" Venus screamed. The others stared.

"Damn it," she snarled as she sprinted after her princess, "All of you come on!"

A startled Mercury, Mars and Zoisite pelted down the hall after them.

"Mercury!" Venus panted and motioned frantically for the other girl to catch up with her. Mercury pushed herself to reach her commander.

"Y-yes?"

"I need some – info – now. Where are we headed!?"

The task of running and gathering information from the computer was nearly impossible but she managed to do it with a bit of trouble.

"I think...I think – the lower regions – looks like a – dungeon!"

"A dungeon!?" Venus rasped.

The others behind her stumbled when they heard this.

"Yeah," Mercury nodded, her pace slowing as she tried to catch her breath, "but I think – Usagi – is right..."

"Save your breath," Zoisite said, taking her hand and pulling her along.

She shut up gratefully and allowed him to help her, trying not to notice that they were holding hands.

Sailor Moon rounded a corner and plunged head long down a corridor, with Venus and the rest flying after her.

"Mamo-chan!"

* * *

"What was that?" Jupiter whispered. 

They all stood still, listening to the faint echoes of the shout.

Kunzite frowned and increased the light in his hand.

"Sounded like it came from that direction," Nephrite pointed.

Kunzite nodded.

"Can you track it?" he asked.

Nephrite paused and listened, then turned to angle his body in a different direction.

"What is he doing?" Jupiter asked Jadeite.

"He's trying to determine where the voice came from – he's an expert in tracking and hunting...well, he used to be."

Jupiter raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Got it," Nephrite said, he began walking down a small passage that branched off the hall.

"The shout came from this direction – there's also a slight scent on the air and this is where the wind is coming from," he murmured, lengthening his stride.

Jadeite gasped suddenly and stumbled, Jupiter catching his arm to steady him.

"What is is?" Kunzite asked, sharply.

"The others are in trouble," Jadeite hissed, angrily. He could hear Rei's shouts reverberating in his head and he could feel her fear.

"Should we go back?" Jupiter asked, spinning frantically around in the direction they'd come from.

"No," Nephrite snagged her arm and started to run down the short passage, "I think this doubles around – it should take us to the dungeons – that's where the wind comes from. And the shout."

"He's right," Kunzite said, keeping his long stride in check with Nephrite and Jupiter.

"Most likely it was one of them."

"Hurry," Jadeite urged.

* * *

Mamoru found himself suspended in the air by five tangles of tentacled black energy. He couldn't move and he couldn't gather any more of the crystal's power – he was nearly exhausted and already in his Tuxedo Kamen form. 

The four men projected the black shadowed energy from their hands – holding him as tightly as if they held iron chains.

"Will you give me the crystal, Endymion?" the smooth voice asked.

He couldn't speak for the tight grip the darkness had around his throat so he spat instead.

"Very well."

As one the four men reached up to their collars with their free hands and pulled the material of their tunics down to bare the tops of their chests. There, above their hearts, the black tattoos were wound in an intricate design with a single red mark in the center. From this mark a bolt of pulsing energy began to glow, gathering force as it sped toward Mamoru's chest and twined to become as thick as a ship's rope.

Mamoru felt something pierce his chest above his heart and then he felt an intense and terrible wrenching pain. He realized that the Shadow was not even going to waste time in killing him – she was going to pull the crystal out of him directly.

He wanted to flail away from the awful sensation but he was caught firmly. Unable to handle so much pain, his mind began to shut down and drift – his thoughts returning to Usagi. Her silver hair and blue eyes swam before his vision, he thought he could almost hear her voice as he felt the crystal loosen and start to slide gratingly out of him.

"Let him go!"

He was surprised at the force of his imagination – that it could represent Usagi's voice so realistically even in such duress. Then he felt the pain suddenly cut off and he dropped to the floor of the prison with a crash.

He almost lost consciousness then but he felt two small hands on his chest and he struggled to open his eyes. Amazingly Usagi's own eyes were staring down at him, her tears falling on his face and running into his mouth.

"Are you alright?" he asked, or tried to ask, but his voice didn't seem to want to co-operate.

She smiled and looked like she wanted to say something, but a horrible shriek made her glance up in fear.

Then Mamoru finally realized what was going on.

With a supreme effort he thrust himself off the ground and huddle over her as a bolt of black energy in the from of a silver sword came singing through the air at them.

"No!"

They braced themselves for the impact but were startled to hear metal clang against metal and see the dark silver sword go flying into the wall.

Venus was kneeling to their other side, panting from her leap, with the Moon Sword clutched in one hand and her whip held in the other.

"If you would just listen to me before running to the rescue," she chastised Sailor Moon, "but you always have to jump before you leap, don't you?"

"What is that thing?" Sailor Moon quaked, holding on tightly to Mamoru. He wasn't really sure at this point who was holding up whom.

"It's -" he began, then grunted as he felt someone land on both of them, flattening them to the ground.

"Apologies, sire. I'm very happy to see you again."

He heard an elegant voice in his ear and felt curls tickling his face.

"Zoisite?"

"I suggest you and the princess get to safety," the other man said and pushed on Mamoru's back to get up.

_That's going to hurt tomorrow_ – he thought. If there was a tomorrow.

He pulled himself and Sailor Moon up, and leaning heavily on her he ushered them to the safety of the now opened doorway.

They caught the door jam and looked back at the scene behind them.

The now furious Shadow Apollo was gathering a mass of black energy around him that was almost too thick to see through. His fellow Quartet members were standing like statues beside him, letting lose attacks at the others.

Sailor Mars had found a good place some thirty feet away from the group, and had drawn her flaming bow, notching an arrow at what had once been Vulcan.

"Try to pick off the other men first," Venus yelled, "then we'll go for the big one."

"I think -" Mercury yelped and dived to the side to avoid the solar wind attack flung at her.

"I think we should focus on their chests!" she shouted.

"Mercury!" Zoisite yelled, his face a sudden mask of outrage and disbelief.

Mercury actually blushed, but snapped:

"It's their weakness you silly ass!"

"Oh," he answered, blushing.

He turned back to the enemy and focused on Titan, and suddenly he produced two daggers made of ice from thin air. He was so startled by this that he almost dropped them.

Mercury grabbed his elbow and tugged him to the side out of the direct line of fire.

"Throw them!" she commanded.

He looked at her blankly for a moment, then something in his eyes clicked. He lifted the daggers and snapped them through the air – watching as both of them landed in Titan's chest. He fell to the ground and Zoisite smoothed his hair back with one hand, looking enormously pleased with himself.

"Did she just call Zoisite an ass?" someone asked.

Mars glanced down at her communicator and saw Michiru's face.

"No time for conversation," she murmured, loosing another arrow, "but for the record, she did."

"Call us if you need back up," Michiru's voice commanded, "We're ready."

"We'll be fine," Mars answered, distractedly.

She ducked to avoid the magma that streamed toward her.

_Once burned twice shy..._ She thought wryly.

She rolled to get a better vantage place, then aimed for the red mark above Vulcan's heart. Her arrow streaked from the bow and caught him squarely in the chest. He went flying backward into the wall and the black tattoo around his body began to disappear.

"Venus!" Mars called, directing her eyes to the figure of Vulcan.

"Right!" her leader called back, dodging another attack, "Everyone, aim for the chest! It severs them from the – whatever it is!"

Mars turned back to take aim at the next Quartet member but found herself trapped in a bubble. The air inside was growing hotter and hotter – the temperature rising. She found Hyperion's black-purple eyes staring into her own as he concentrated on the aurora around her.

"That's not going to work on me!" she shouted, angrily, and began to blast the sides of the bubble with fire, working up her own heat and forcing the contours of the bubble to distort and grow. Hyperion never blinked – which was why she finally realized that they'd all been possessed by the evil presence she'd first felt on entering the room. It was a familiar evil.

With a tremendous shout she called on her power to the fullest and released a blaze of fire into the bubble, causing it to explode.

It freed her but sent her flying into the air to land with a hard thud, cracking a few ribs.

"Mars!" she heard Venus yell. She tried to roll over but to her horror she saw Venus come flying over her head in a mass of wind and heat to slam into the wall behind her.

Mars got to her feet, shakily, and ran to help her leader up.

Suddenly she found Sailor Moon standing beside them with her scepter.

"Moon Healing Esc-"

"We don't have time for that! Get back in the doorway!" she tried to shout.

The being that had been using Apollo's body to gather energy released the titanic amount it had amassed directly at – Mamoru.

Mars and Mercury were totally surprised.

Venus, however, realized its intention, thrusting Sailor Moon down into Mars' arms as she flung her chain to wrap around Mamoru and drag him toward her. They collided in the air, but the tremendous ball of black energy followed them even as they landed. Venus noticed its movements, and suddenly wrapped her chain around him and stood still, letting the attack speed toward them.

"What is she doing!?" Zoisite yelled, scrambling over the debris in the ruined room to reach Mamoru.

"Venus!" Mars screamed.

Venus waited until the dark energy was three feet away and then released Mamoru from the chain and pushed him as hard as she could away from her.

The attack hit her squarely and threw her out of the room while Mamoru landed safely, if roughly, beside the door.

"Venus!" Sailor Moon yelled in horror. She pushed Mars off of her and tried to run, but both Zoisite and Mars held her back. Mercury knelt beside Mamoru helping him to sit up.

They heard a low chuckle that sent shivers up their spines.

"Finally, I am rid of that pesky child."

They turned as one to see not Apollo, but a being shaped like a woman, made entirely of shadows and dark energy with two red, glowing eyes.

"Chaos," Sailor Moon whispered, a sudden anger hardening her voice and her eyes.

"How could she have come back so soon!?" Mercury whispered.

"She used those poor men to bring her here," Mamoru answered.

"You will not imprison me again!" the shadow yelled and raised an arm.

They watched in horror as Chaos loosed a bolt of energy at Sailor Moon. Mars and Zoisite dragged her out of the way, getting off an attack between them that did relatively little.

"You have to use the crystal to send her back!" Mars hissed, continuing to dodge the attacks while pulling Sailor Moon with her.

"I will, if we can ever get her to stand still!"

"She can't be at full power," Mercury mumbled, taking out her computer. She crept around behind the shadowy figure, reading the information on her screen.

"I thought so," she gasped, looking up.

Someone hit her from behind and sent her sprawling on the ground. Hyperion stood behind her, forgotten by the others, and in his hand he held Apollo's discarded sword. He raised it above his head to strike. From his position beside Mamoru, Zoisite cursed.

Without thinking about what he was doing, Zoisite held his hands out in the air and with a brief surge of energy a long halberd made of ice materialized in his hands. He swept it around his body and over his head and sent it flying like a spear toward Hyperion. It hit the other man in the chest – just above the red mark and he was pinned to the wall like an anesthetized butterfly.

"How did you do that?" Mamoru gaped.

"What do you mean, sire?" Zoisite asked, confused – his tone suddenly very mature, "I've always been able to do that. Did you hit your head, Endymion?"

"No, but I'm beginning to think you did." Mamoru answered.

They were caught off guard by a stray bolt of energy which flung both of them into the doorway.

Zoisite felt himself collide with something soft and fell on his back. Mamoru felt a strong arm grab him out of the air and pull him down.

"Kunzite!" he gasped in relief.

"Zoisite, would you mind getting off me?" he heard an angry female voice underneath him.

He jumped off of Sailor Jupiter and gave her a hand to stand up. As she was brushing herself off, Zoisite caught Nephrite's eye.

"Sorry, friend," he said, "No offense."

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Nephrite asked, confused.

Zoisite looked at him blankly.

"I...don't know."

"Come on, you two!" Jupiter growled, grabbing them both and hurling them through the door. Kunzite, Jadeite and Mamoru were already back in the room.

Kunzite had halted a few feet into the room, sizing up the situation.

"Jadeite, Zoisite – get the king out of here, immediately," he commanded, "Nephrite, help me protect the princess."

The men nodded, Jadeite and Zoisite half dragging, half carrying Mamoru out of the room and back into the hall way, despite his fervid protestations.

"It's about time you showed up!" Mars yelled as she flung Sailor Moon behind her. She was nearly at the end of her energy from trying to dodge Chaos' attacks.

"Mercury, are you alright?" Nephrite asked, kneeling beside her as she sat up groggily.

"Yes, I think so -" her eyes opened wide, "Chaos! I remember now."

She scrambled on the ground to get her computer. Above her she heard thunder rip through the air.

"This isn't Chaos," she told him, jerkily, "even though it looks like her – it's only her arm, so to speak - just a portion of her that she's managed to reach out with. But she'll be here completely if we don't -"

Nephrite grabbed her small frame and hauled her up off the ground and into his arms, running back to where Mars, Jupiter and Kunzite were protecting Sailor Moon.

"Who is Chaos?" he asked.

"That's her." Mercury pointed at the shadowy being flinging bolts of dark energy haphazardly at the little group as they continued to dodge. But now she was out numbered, and the knowledge spurred her anger and frustration.

"Shit!" He exclaimed and jumped out of the way of a bolt.

"Exactly," Mercury answered, clutching his shoulders as they both tumbled to the ground.

"Mars, where is your leader?" Kunzite asked, training his eyes on the shadow in front of them.

"I -" she swallowed, "she's – I think she's hurt."

His jaw tightened.

"You are second in command?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"I suggest you and the other Senshi get the princess out of here."

"We can't just leave you here -" Jupiter began, having just released her Sparkling Wide Pressure. It didn't do much to phase Chaos besides distracting and blinding her briefly.

"Mercury says this isn't all of it – just a small part," Nephrite panted, appearing beside them with Mercury in his arms.

"We have to defeat this part or she will grow stronger." Mercury chimed in, as he set her on her feet.

"How do we do that?"

"Only Sailor Moon can seal her away." Jupiter answered. She kept up a heavy barrage of lighting attacks, trying to force Chaos away from them, but it was only making the shadow angrier and her attacks harder to predict.

"Mars," Kunzite said, "I will distract Chaos in order for Sailor Moon to control it."

"But -"

"Alright," Mars nodded, looking at Jupiter and Mercury. After a moment they nodded as well.

"Are you ready, Sailor Moon?"

"Yes!" she cried, already aching to put the darkness away forever.

Kunzite and Nephrite threw themselves forward and forced Chaos to focus on them. Their attacks were weak, at best, and hardly presented a challenge for her, but they were quick at dodging her and kept her attention trained on them.

"Now, Sailor Moon!" Mars hissed.

Moon raised her scepter, hoping that her power alone would be enough. She called on the ginzuishou – feeling it answer her as the wings on her back began to appear and grow and the glow around her spread.

Chaos felt the attack coming and blasted the two Shitennou with a huge wave of dark energy. Nephrite was knocked unconscious, Kunzite went skidding across the floor, but picked himself back up. The attack on her friends startled Usagi and made her lose her concentration – the light from the crystal began to fade.

"Usagi, no!" Mars cried frantically.

She and Jupiter, who was already standing in front of Nephrite, powered up and combined their attacks, releasing an enormously powerful blast at the shadow.

Chaos writhed in pain only briefly before it pushed them back to the floor. Jupiter threw herself over Nephrite's prone figure and Mars landed close beside her.

Only Mercury now stood between Chaos and Eternal Sailor Moon.

Chaos smiled and her red eyes glittered in the dark; Usagi felt her courage draining out of her.

Mercury set her shoulders and balled her fists, planting herself firmly. She had run out of plans but she wasn't through fighting.

As Chaos raised her hand Mercury braced herself to take the attack for her princess, hoping it would buy Usagi the time she needed to use the crystal. Oddly, as she closed her eyes in the on coming blast she saw, not Usagi's face, or even one of the Senshi's or her mother's, but Zoisite's pale green eyes. She only had time to realize the oddity of this before she heard Chaos scream in rage.

Opening her eyes, Merucry saw that Kunzite was standing in front of her, and a giant field of energy surrounded them, propelling and absorbing every attack that Chaos threw at them.

"How are you doing that?" she asked, her analytical mind side stepping the fact that she was still alive and moving straight on to the important details.

"I'm not entirely sure," he replied, calmly, "but it seems to be very effective."

Mercury opened and closed her mouth, and kept her hands from straying to her computer. This was no time for scientific analysis.

"Serenity, are you ready?"

Usagi nodded, ignoring the fact that he'd just called her 'Serenity' and powered up again, her figure glowing with the power of the ginzuishou.

"I will let the the shield down the moment you release your attack," he said, "and I suggest we all duck when that happens."

Mercury looked around him at Chaos and found that the entire room was swamped in a growing pulsing darkness from which two red eyes glowed demonically.

"Now." Usagi whispered.

Kunzite and Mercury threw themselves to the ground as the shield disappeared and Usagi released the full power of the ginzuishou. The darkness recoiled from her light in horror, shrinking in on itself – swirling into a tighter and denser mass in the center. It fought her but she pushed it back, forcing it with her will.

But it was draining on her energy to use so much power, she felt herself slipping. Resolutely she clamped down on the darkness and watched as it grew smaller and smaller – the room itself seemed to be collapsing in on them.

Suddenly Usagi couldn't hold it any longer. She dropped in a dead faint and Kunzite caught her, pulling Mercury along as Mars and Jupiter dragged Nephrite out of the room.

As if it were a black hole, the room began to collapse in on itself, trapping the darkness inside. They ran up the hallway they'd come along, following the wind as it wound itself out of the Dark Kingdom.

"Wait!" Mars screamed. The others turned to stare at her.

"I'm not leaving without Venus!" she cried.

"Get the princess out," Kunzite commanded.

He handed Usagi to Jupiter, who put the other girl on her back, and ran on with Nephrite and Mercury.

Together Mars and Kunzite frantically sifted through the debris outside the door, as the rest of the Dark Kingdom began to fall in around them. A long hole had been blasted into the wall, directly opposite the door, and Mars tumbled over the broken pieces of wall and rock, searching for any sign of her friend.

"Venus!" she screamed, almost starting to cry.

"Minako!" Kunzite yelled. He pushed aside a heavy rock while another crashed down from the ceiling behind him – and caught a glimpse of gold.

"She's here!" he shouted. Together he and Mars lifted the crumbling rock off of her.

Venus lay in the mess, pale with blood pouring down the side of her face. Her right arm was twisted at an odd angle.

"Come on, we have to get out of here," Mars croaked, and leaned over to pull her gently out of the rubble.

Kunzite bent down and picked Venus up, shifting her very gently so as not to disturb her arm. To his intense relief he heard her breath out as he moved her.

_At least she's alive..._he tamped down all other thoughts as Mars pulled his arm.

Another crash sounded behind them and the entire room fell in on itself. They struggled out the hallway, climbing over the rocks and debris, scrambling after the wind as it wound its way toward the surface.


	15. Remembering

_The Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter Fourteen: Remembering **

* * *

"Is anyone still alive?" Haruka asked. 

Mercury glanced down at her wrist while the wind howled outside the barrier of heat that Zoisite had once again created.

"Well," she sighed, "we rescued the king and managed to keep the queen safe too – although she's used almost all of her energy -"

She looked across the snow covered area to where Mamoru sat crouched by Jupiter who was holding Usagi in her arms. Usagi had returned to her civilian clothing as had Mamoru – who was barely awake.

"And most of us have been accounted for except -"

"Rei!" someone shouted.

She looked up to see Jadeite sprinting toward the entrance of the demolished Dark Kingdom as a shiny raven head emerged from the hole. Not even giving her time to climb out Jadeite bent over and grabbed both her arms, jerking Sailor Mars out of the entrance way with so much force that they both almost fell over back wards.

"Stop that!" Mars shouted, whacking him on the chest.

"I'm perfectly fine."

He didn't release her until he'd held her for a moment longer than was necessary. When he did put her back on the ground her face was red and she refused to look at him.

"Someone help them," she ordered and pointed back into the hole.

Kunzite emerged and handed Venus' limp body to Nephrite as he clamored out of the hole.

"Venus!" Jupiter gasped, seeing her friend for the first time.

"What happened to her?"

Mercury was already on her way over to Nephrite.

"She got blasted with some very nasty dark energy," Mercury replied for the benefit of both Sailor Jupiter and her communicator.

"We need to get her to the hospital," she added, "all our healers are out cold."

"But how are we going to teleport?" Jupiter asked, "We can't do it without Venus – or at least Sailor Moon."

"Haruka, how long would it take for you to send a chopper for us?" Mercury asked.

"Judging from the way you're talking about Venus, too long." the other woman replied.

They stared at Venus' pale face – nearly bone white now. The blood from her wounds had dried, but there was no way to know if she had internal injuries as well. Her breathing was also rather shallow and pained.

"What is the problem?" Kunzite asked, coming up behind them after having checked on Mamoru.

"We can't get out of here before Venus expires, I'm afraid," Mercury replied, haltingly "we need to think of some solution, fast."

Kunzite's eyes hardened as he gazed down at Venus' still form.

"Wait," Nephrite said, suddenly, glancing up.

"One of us can take her."

"What do you mean?" Mars snapped, "Unless you could fly in your past life -"

"No, no," Nephrite interjected, "we could teleport. Remember? Mamoru could do it too."

A thud alerted them to the fact that Mamoru was now dead to the world beside Usagi, his head lying in Jupiter's lap.

"What do I look like, a pillow?" she grumbled.

"You're right," Jadeite blurted, surprise lighting up his eyes.

"We can – all we have to do is remember how."

"Well, what the hell are you waiting for!?" Jupiter thundered, "Remember!"

"It isn't that easy," Nephrite explained, patiently, "it's not something you can turn on and off -"

"He's doing a good job of it, I'd say," was her reply as she pointed at Zoisite.

The youngest Shitennou blinked, realizing that they were all looking at him.

Kunzite's eyes narrowed.

"Zoisite, how is it that you've started to remember so much about your past life? There have been a few times I could swear you were your past self. How did you do it?" he demanded.

"Uh..." Zoisite blinked, "Well...I just sort of...let go."

"Let go?" Kunzite repeated, frowning.

"Yes," he nodded, "Usually it happens when I look at Mercury, though."

"I don't know why," he added as Mercury blushed.

Nephrite put his hand on Kunzite's shoulder.

"Do you remember what we were discussing before we left this morning?" he asked, quietly.

"About past...relationships?"

Kunzite scowled.

"Maybe," Nephrite continued, "that's the key to this whole mess."

He glanced at Jupiter, his own eyes swimming in memories.

Kunzite didn't move for several moments, and though he certainly didn't look like it, he was undergoing a monumental struggle with himself. His eyes wondered to Venus again and he absently rubbed his forehead.

"Alright," he sighed, at last.

The others, not really sure of what was going on, stepped back and let him approach her. But Nephrite held his breath, an idea that he'd had for a long time now was close to being proven true.

Kunzite locked his gaze on Venus' face, and took a deep breath – releasing his iron control a tiny fraction. He let his eyes wonder to her hair, then down to her nose and lips – noticing how bloodless they looked, and remembering how brightly her eyes had glowed that day in the library.

Suddenly he felt something unlock inside his mind. Odd snatches of things tumbled into his consciousness, useful things, and some that he would save for later examination.

He snapped his eyes open and held out his arms – and Nephrite, grinning in relief, gave him Venus.

Kunzite settled her comfortably in his arms and looked up at the others. His eyes held an unfathomable expression.

"I'm going to take Sailor Venus back to the hospital in Tokyo. I will send Miss Tenoh with a helicopter as soon as I arrive – though I suggest that you all try to remember how to use your powers again."

"Goodbye to you too," Jadeite mumbled, with a slight smirk.

Kunzite looked back down at Venus and then, somehow, completely disappeared.

Mercury sucked in her breath and stared at the spot he'd recently vacated, her hands itching to use her computer.

"Wow!" Zoisite called, and for a moment forgot to keep up the heat shield. The arctic-like winds whipped around them all and they all screamed his name in a furious unison.

"Sorry!" he yelped and immediately the shield was back in place.

"We should probably try to figure this out," Nephrite told the other two Shitennou. They nodded.

The Senshi congregated together around the sleeping king and queen; Mercury pulled out her computer and visor.

"So I just have to let go?" Jadeite asked, doubtfully.

Zoisite nodded.

"And look at someone," Nephrite whispered, getting a punch in the shoulder for his pains.

Jadeite closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself in the Earth's kingdom – he felt a loosening in his mind and saw there was a barrier there he'd never noticed before. It had several cracks in it, several rips and tears – but he knew he could tear it down psychically.

He began to tug at the fabric of his own awareness – and suddenly his mind was flooded with images and voices.

It startled him and he opened his eyes, glaring hectically at the first person he saw – who happened to be Sailor Mars. She was staring at him, wide eyed, and he realized she could see everything he was seeing. He quieted his mind before they both passed out from the overwhelming deluge.

"You alright?" Nephrite asked.

"Yeah," he replied, huskily.

He looked back at Mars and just let himself drift for a moment in her pale lavender eyes.

As they watched he straightened, his stance becoming stronger and more dignified. He tilted his chin and held out a hand.

With a sudden jolt of power he disappeared as quickly and silently as Kunzite had.

Everyone gasped.

"That idiot!" Mars grumbled, "He could have at least taken the king with him-"

She shrieked as she felt two arms around her waist and a low chuckle in her ear – then the rest of the world melted away.

Mercury jumped sideways as Mars vanished from her side.

"What in the world -"

Suddenly Jadeite was back, sans Mars.

"This is rather amusing," he said, smirking.

"I guess you were a smart ass in the Silver Millennium too," Nephrite drawled.

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?"

"You must be joking."

The others watched as Nephrite started to imitate Jadeite's regal posture and bearing – and his language began to become more antediluvian.

"I could do that with my eyes closed."

"Oh, please give us a demonstration then," Jadeite begged, winking at Mercury who jumped again.

"With pleasure."

Nephrite, without seeming to notice that he wasn't acting like himself anymore, or rather, like his present self, gently picked up Usagi.

"Don't be cross with me, Jupiter," he smiled, and Jupiter felt her heart skip a beat.

"Why would you be cross with him?" Zoisite asked, puzzled.

Jupiter shushed him, and continued to stare at Nephrite.

He vanished.

"Wow," Jupiter sighed.

"This is beginning to be very unusual," Mercury exclaimed, "I really think that there is something Mina didn't tell us -"

"Oh, who cares," Jupiter answered, "This is fun. Can I be next?"

Jadeite smiled as he lifted Mamoru with an arm under his shoulder.

"I would gladly take you, my dear, but I'm afraid he would never forgive me."

With that Jadeite and Mamoru disappeared.

"Why wouldn't Mamoru forgive him?" Jupiter wondered.

"I think he meant that Nephrite wouldn't forgive him." Mercury pointed out.

"Oh," Jupiter blushed.

Nephrite reappeared behind Mercury's shoulder and she screamed.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"It's alright," she mumbled, her cheek twitching.

"Is it my turn?!" Jupiter nearly squealed.

"Of course," Nephrite replied, and impulsively opened his arms.

As though she were a four year old, Jupiter flung herself into them, giggling as the two of them disappeared.

Mercury rolled her eyes. What was the world coming to?

She heard a polite cough and looked up to find Zoisite staring down at her. She tried to figure out if he was past Zoisite or present Zoisite, but decided it was too hard to tell at the moment.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes," she said, rather warily. His expression was innocent, but she knew that look in his eye.

"Very well, then, my lady, if you would take my hand."

She took it gingerly, feeling suspicious.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" she asked, a bit nervously. As soon as the words left her lips she knew she'd said the wrong thing.

He arched one perfect eyebrow, then scooped her into his arms.

They both disappeared, Mercury's indignant squeaks echoing in the frozen wasteland.

* * *

"Will she be alright?" Makoto asked, hanging her head around the corner of the hospital room where Minako was sleeping. 

"I think so," Dr. Mizuno said, softly, "she's stable, thanks to her Senshi constitution and our medicine – and when either Usagi or Mamoru recovers they can probably heal her completely. But for now she should rest, and so should you."

Mako smiled rather bashfully. She always enjoyed hanging around the hospital when Ami's mother was there – any moments spent with Dr. Mizuno were always pleasant. She fussed over the Senshi as though they were all her children – which Mako secretly couldn't get enough of, though she was close to twenty years old herself.

"Thanks." she whispered, giving one last glance at Minako as she turned to leave.

In the hall she caught sight of someone walking toward her.

"Kunzite?" she called.

He looked up and took his hands out of the pockets of his jacket to wave at her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

His eyes flickered toward Minako's room.

"Oh," she said, "well, Dr. Mizuno said that Minako's going to be alright. She's stable now."

"Good," he said.

She nodded, feeling rather awkward with this intensely silent man.

"Thank you for helping us today," she stumbled, "we couldn't have done it by ourselves. I realize that now."

He shrugged, giving her a small smile.

"Goodnight, Miss Kino," he said.

"Goodnight."

Makoto passed on but turned back to watch him with curiosity.

"What in the world is going on?" she murmured to herself, "Maybe Ami had a point."

Kunzite entered Minako's room and spotted Dr. Mizuno making a last minute check.

The doctor straightened and smiled when she saw him.

"You must be...one of Mamoru's friends?"

He nodded. For some reason her smiled deepened – a strange light entered her eyes.

"She's doing surprisingly well," Dr. Mizuno continued, gesturing back at Mina.

"But then, Minako has always been the most resilient of the bunch."

"Really?"

She glanced at his strong profile, watching his eyes as he watched Mina sleeping.

"Yes, Minako's had a hard time – losing both her parents two years ago – and being the leader of course – everything falls on her shoulders, the blame and the responsibility. Did you know she started fighting when she was thirteen? A year younger than the other girls."

"I...yes, I had heard."

"She's very strong, even though she doesn't look like it. You'd never tell if something was bothering her – she was always so bright and bubbly. I hadn't seen her acting like that since her parents died – but lately I've noticed a change in all the girls."

"Miss Tenoh said something similar."

He looked at her with a questioning glance.

"She thought it had something to do with us." he added.

Dr. Mizuno shrugged gently.

"I don't know," she answered, gazing at Mina, "it might."

She glanced at her watch.

"Mina's not really my patient, I only dropped in to check on her, so I have to be going. But you may stay as long as you like."

"Thank you." he said.

She smiled to herself and closed the glass door behind her.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight -" 

Haruka was pacing back and forth in Mamoru's down stairs study where the other Shitennou and Senshi were gathered; only Kunzite and Minako were missing, but no one seemed inclined to comment on Kunzite's absence.

"The four guys who started all this were actually guardians of a former king -"

"Future king," Ami interjected.

"Whatever," Haruka continued, "Where's this king?"

"Presumably, he hasn't been born yet," Michiru commented, dryly.

"Ok, so why were they working with Chaos?"

"We don't know, but from what Mamoru said," Jadeite spoke up, "Chaos may have tricked them into trying to capture the crystal for it, uh, her."

"That's interesting," Michiru commented, "Why would Chaos be after the golden crystal?"

"Well, first of all," Ami said, "it isn't really Chaos – it's more like a clone or a daughter of Chaos. You see the patterns that my computer showed indicated that the energy coming from the shadow of Chaos could be traced back through an older rupture in the dimensional fabric of space which allowed Chaos access to her past haunt and provided her with a means of entering our world. "

"Someone explain that!" Haruka demanded, spinning to point at Zoisite.

Zoisite crossed his arms, lounging comfortably against the pool table.

"I don't see what's so hard to understand," he commented, "she said that the Chaos we saw was probably an off shoot of the real Chaos."

"Oh," Haruka said.

"And," he continued, "she also said that Chaos used her old hold in the Dark Kingdom to make a place to anchor herself to now."

"Oh," Makoto said.

"Which means," he finished, "that this was just a little foretaste of what's to come."

"Are you serious!?" Makoto smacked her head.

"I can't believe this, we have to fight her again?"

"So it would seem." Jadeite commented.

"As for why she is after the golden crystal, well, I think I can hazard a guess," Zoisite continued.

They all looked at him in surprise, especially Ami.

"It's like this," he said, picking up the white pool ball, "Sailor Moon is the only one in the universe that we know of who has ever managed to defeat Chaos – in a manner of speaking, correct?"

"That's one way to put it."

"Let's not dither over trifles; focus on the essentials. What is the one thing that Usagi cannot live without?"

"Uh...the ginzuishou?" Haruka guessed.

"The Senshi?"

"Air?" Makoto suggested.

"Close," Zoisite sighed, and held up the eight ball.

"Mamoru." Ami whispered.

Zoisite grinned and tossed her the black ball.

"Exactly. Which isn't exactly flattering for the rest of us, but if we remember our history it was after Endymion was killed that Serenity killed herself. Strictly speaking, Usagi doesn't want to live in a world without Mamoru."

"That's very sweet," Makoto sighed.

"Although it leaves a lot unanswered."

"Are you past Zoisite or present Zoisite?" Ami asked him, suspiciously.

"Both," he replied and chuckled at her miffed expression.

Rei snuck a glance at Haruka and Michiru and caught them secretly high fiving each other.

"But what I don't understand is," Nephrite broke in, "How did Chaos come back in the first place?"

"She's always found ways to affect the rest of the universe, even when she was trapped in the Galaxy Cauldron. We've always been fighting her, in some form or other."

"And we always will," Ami added, sadly.

They were all sobered a bit by this statement. It certainly made the future seem rather bleak.

"Well, we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it," Nephrite said.

Mako giggled and he looked at her questioningly.

"Mina would have said, 'cross that bridge over troubled waters'."

"I've noticed she sometimes get's her words mixed up; why is that?"

"Don't question the mysteries of the universe," Rei murmured.

"So we will have to find a way to seal off that gateway for her, right?" Haruka asked, "That's what you were saying."

"Yes," Ami answered, "we have to make sure she can never use it again."

"Hm." Mako leaned her head on her drawn up knees, "Well, I guess we'd better start planning again."

"Now I have a question," Rei announced.

Haruka and Michiru eyed her warily as she turned to them with her hands on her hips.

"I've held my tongue about this for as long as I'm going to – you two are up to something and I want to know what it is."

"What makes you think that?" Michiru purred.

"Don't get cute with me," Rei said, daringly, "Mina won't tell us what happened in the past, the Shitennou have been acting very strange ever since you talked to them, I've been having weird dreams, and you two look suspicious!"

"What kind of dreams have you been having?" Jadeite asked.

"Never you mind," Rei snapped, turning a bit red, "I want some answers for a change."

"Ok, ok," Haruka said, taking a seat beside Michiru, "no need to go pyro on us."

"Tell us what you want to know specifically, Rei, and we'll answer if we can."

Rei crossed her arms.

"Alright," she said, "First I want to know if you two remember more than we do about the past."

"We do." Michiru answered.

Ami and Makoto gasped.

"You didn't bother to tell us that?" Mako demanded.

"It wasn't relevant at the time," Haruka answered loftily.

"Do you remember the end of the Silver Millennium?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember why we betrayed the Shitennou? Specifically and in detail?"

"Yes."

"Well!?" Rei asked.

"We can't tell you," Michiru replied, calmly, "Setsuna said it would be better if you remembered by yourselves."

"Or it will disrupt the time line and all that stuff?" Mako asked, skeptically.

"No," Michiru said, "she just said that it would be more fun for you in the end."

"You're kidding," Rei said.

"Only a little," Haruka admitted.

"She really did think it would be safer for you to remember by yourselves, and it's more fun for us...so, sorry."

Mako, Ami and Rei stared at them, dumbfounded.

"Moving on," Michiru sipped her drink, "any more questions?"

"Why are the Shitennou acting weird?"

"Describe weird," Nephrite spoke up. The three men looked at the three younger senshi with affronted expressions.

"You start acting like we're living in the Silver Millennium all of a sudden and without warning," Rei answered, "Are you getting more memories back?"

The men shared a look.

"Sort of," Zoisite admitted, "You might say that we're just trying to remember who we were – it helps us in controlling and recovering our powers..."

"Among other things," Haruka muttered into her beer.

"See!" Rei cried, pointing her finger at the women on the sofa, "That is exactly what I'm talking about! You're all acting like there's some big secret that we aren't in on."

Haruka and Michiru looked up at the men, pointedly.

"We're not really sure," Nephrite said, "but I have a theory. It's a little out there but -"

"What is it?"

"I'd prefer not to talk about it until I'm a little more...sure," he said.

Rei closed her eyes and pinched her nose in frustration.

"Alright, obviously no one is going to explain anything, but if either of you," she glared at Ami and Makoto, "find out anything, anything at all – tell me."

They gulped and nodded.

"I'm going to bed," Rei said and left.

* * *

"Uh, Makoto," Nephrite called, "May I talk to you for a moment?" 

"Sure," she said, blushing a bit.

She had realized sometime during the battle with Chaos that she might have a crush on the lanky Shitennou. Of course she really hadn't had time to analyze those feelings, but one thing she had decided: Nephrite was obviously in love with his princess of the past and it wasn't fair to try flirting with him. They were just friends.

"Thank you. You know you were really marvelous in the battle this morning," he rambled, trying to put himself at ease. He was getting close to proving his theory, but he needed to gather a lot more information first.

"Thanks," Mako grinned and ducked her head.

"I was just wondering, uh...can you tell me anything about the senshi's past?"

She looked at him in surprise, but shrugged.

"Sure, I guess. Why?"

"I think it might help me remember my own a bit better..."

"Trying to remember your princess, right?" she asked, wistfully.

"Yes," he admitted, surprised that she'd read him so well.

She sighed.

"Well, let's see. We were all raised on the Moon, even though we were the princesses of our own planets -"

"You were princesses?" he asked, his tone changed.

"Yes."

"_You_, specifically, were a princess?" he clarified.

"Yeah," Makoto laughed, "I know it's hard to believe but it's true."

"So you were the princess of Jupiter?"

"I _was_ Princess Jupiter," she exclaimed, "How's that for a title?"

Nephrite's heart started to beat harder.

"Tell me, did you ever visit the Earth?"

"Now that I don't know..." Mako admitted, "But I probably did when Serenity ran off."

Nephrite stopped walking abruptly and Makoto turned back to look at him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

They were outside and the moonlight was shining down on them, softly illuminating Makoto's elegant features.

"How old are you, Makoto?" he asked in a strangled tone.

_"I don't see what that has to do with -"_

"I'm nineteen. I'm the youngest of us."

He swallowed.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Nephrite stared at her as if she were a ghost. Then put a hand to his face.

"I'm...fine," he murmured weakly.

"Oh..." she said softly, "Did you remember something about your princess?"

He took his hand away to gaze at her.

"Yes, I did."

To her surprise he continued to look at her with an almost tender yet sorrowful expression.

"May I?" he asked. She wasn't sure what he was asking but she nodded.

She stood very still as he placed both hands on her shoulders and leant down to kiss her on the forehead very lightly. Then he pulled away and dropped his hands.

"Goodnight, Makoto, thank you for talking with me."

"Sure." She watched him with concern, his face looked very pale.

He made a little half bow and left her alone in the moonlight.

* * *

_Rei, we need to talk._

"Go away, I want to sleep."

_You're avoiding me again._

"How could you guess?"

_Come on, you promised me you'd work with me on this, not run away from it. _

"I didn't promise anything."

_Please._

Rei sighed. She really was tired. And despite what she'd said - she knew in her heart she was trying to avoid their 'conversation'. Especially now that she had some faint inkling of what that conversation would involve.

She rose and turned on the lights in her room.

"Come in," she groaned and opened the door.

Jadeite leaned against it, his blue eyes flashing with a heated fire.

It caught her off guard.

"This won't take long, " he promised. The low growl in his voice as he looked at her with such blazing intensity caused her stomach to flutter.

"Rei, I want to teach you something."

She blinked.

"What?"

"I want to teach you how to block out my voice in your head."

"Why?"

He only grimaced.

"Just trust me."

"Dangerous words."

"I know."

She sighed and looked at him for a long, measuring moment.

"Alright," she said at last. He nodded and held out his hand.

"Close your eyes. Try to remember who you used to be."

"Who I used to be?" she retorted.

"Close your eyes."

She sighed shortly and obeyed.

_Is this really necessary? I'm tired._

_Yes, _he replied, _I have to do it now - I may not have the resolve to do this... later..._

_What do you -_

_Just concentrate on your past self, on your memories._

_Alright! What do you want me to concentrate on - which memories that I don't remember do you want me to find? -_

_You were a princess. - _his voice interrupted calmly yet growing more passionate with each word -_ You were the Princess of Mars - the avatar of the goddess - you were a goddess in your own right. You held the secrets of the universe in your eyes - you knew more than anyone else in the Silver Millennium except for the Time Guardian...you were...fire incarnate..._

She frowned.

_How could you -_

He put his finger to her lips, as though she'd spoken out loud. She began to feel something in her mind opening like a door.

_Just concentrate._

* * *

"Uh," Ami cleared her throat. She was in her nightgown and ready for bed, but for the first time since that first night, she felt very...nervous. 

Zoisite was propped up against the pillows of the other bed, reading by the light of a lamp. He didn't look up as Ami sat on her bed and slipped under the sheets. She leaned over to turn on her own lamp and grabbed her own book from under her pillow.

They read in silence for a good few minutes; Zoisite seemed absorbed in his book - but Ami couldn't focus on hers.

She had to know.

With a slam that startled Zoisite she shut her book and tossed it to the side of the bed and leveled a stare at him behind her glasses.

"Yes?" he asked, quietly.

"Are you past Zoisite or present Zoisite?"

He sighed.

"Ami, love, we've been through this - I'm both. You were you as a child and you're still you now, right?"

"But that doesn't answer my question," she argued, "and why do you keep calling me things like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like..." she blushed and fanned her cheeks, "you know."

He put his book down and eyed her with a glint of amusement.

"You mean when I call you 'love', and 'my dear', and 'sweetheart'?"

"Yes," Ami snipped.

"Hm." He grinned with a 'wouldn't you like to know' look and turned back to his book.

"Zoisite!" she spluttered.

He looked at her over the top of his book.

"Yes?"

"Why are you...acting like this?" she asked. Her emotions had once again gotten to the confusing level.

"Are you teasing me?" she hissed.

"Why, no, my love. Of course not."

"Fine!" she snapped and grabbed her book.

"Ami, my dear."

"What!" she yelled, jerking her head around to catch his eyes peeping at her naughtily above his book again.

"Your book is upside down."

"Oh." she pouted.

There was a brief silence.

"Ami."

She looked up to find him watching her with a calm, slightly wistful expression on his face. She felt something stir in her mind.

"Don't worry about it," he said, softly.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed.

"Promise me something, alright?" he asked, gazing at her in perfect seriousness.

"No matter what happens," he said slowly, "I don't want you to ever worry or regret anything. Nothing about what happened or might have happened in the past. And I want you to remember that I will always..."

He stopped, his expression almost pained. She discovered she was holding her breath.

"I'll always care about you, sincerely, Ami," he said, holding her gaze, "And nothing will ever change that. That isn't a game to me."

She nodded.

He smiled, the serious moment completely gone.

"Now, go back to your book."

But Ami still couldn't concentrate on the words.

_What did he mean by that? _she wondered, her heart hammering in her chest..._friends, Ami! -_ she berated herself - _friends. He cares about me as a friend...and in the past..._

_Oh, Mina! -_ she wailed inside - _Why did you have to pick now to start keeping secrets!?_

* * *

Kunzite rubbed his hands across his eyes. He'd been sitting in the room for the last ten minutes in silence, simply staring out the window at the night sky over Tokyo. 

Mina slept on peacefully, looking younger than her twenty years.

He stood, stiffly, and cautiously approached her bed.

_I remember_...he thought, watching her mouth twitch as though she wanted to smile at something.

_I remember almost everything, and I don't blame you._

"I don't blame you, Venus."

She slept on.

_Anyone would have made the same mistake...anyone who loved me as much as you did. _

He watched the way her hair caught the faint light by her bed and reflected it back like gold.

_Why in the world would you have picked me? But you never did make much sense._

He smiled a rare, wry smile.

_I remember the first day I met you - when you came sprinting around the corner of the palace. I still don't know how you got past my security._

He frowned. How had she done that?

_You were always so determined. Anything you wanted you went after with your whole heart. I tried to tell you...but you never did listen._

_I suppose you haven't changed much._

He chuckled and almost shyly reached out to take her hand. She didn't stir at all. He felt it was alright to allow himself this small indulgence.

_But I have changed, haven't I? _

"I told you once," he whispered, "that you ought to look for someone else - someone more suited to you. I still think you should."

She sighed in her sleep.

He remembered that frivolous moment long ago when he'd admitted his feelings to her. It had been he who had to set up the boundaries, who made her promise to keep it a secret - he was so much older after all. He'd had to restrain her constantly, always for her own good. He'd known she'd outgrow him and her crush eventually. She'd find someone her own age. And then she'd be glad he hadn't let her embarrass herself or taken advantage of her...but still...

"I wish..." he murmured.

_"You promised!"_ - he heard her call in his memory.

_"You promised me that you would - "_

"I did promise... I'm sorry."

He watched her breathing slowly, deeply, the smallest of smiles on her face.

This was the last time he'd ever have to spend with her like this, he realized. As soon as the enemy was defeated, it would all be over.

_"Remember that you promised, Kunzite!"_

He dropped her hand and leaned over her, carefully.

"I kept my promise, Minako," he whispered, and brushed her lips as lightly as possible with his own.

He pulled back and watched her for a few more minutes then picked up his coat and left the room.

* * *

**A.N. **Well, I know there hasn't been a lot of Shitennou-Mamoru action, like we promised. And that's because this story, for better or worse, has turned into something bigger than we originally intended. It was supposed to end with this chapter, but thanks to your suggestions (which often coincide with our own plans, oddly enough) it has become something else. Which I for one think is kind of cool. I'm enjoying it. Anyway - finally the romance is out in the open - sort of. We're still planning on our original ending - how we get there is anyone's guess. Thanks for reading and giving us your thoughts and comments. I hope all of this still makes sense. Valkyrie - yes, I thought your idea was top notch (we were planning on something like that) and Shadowglen (small g!) all I can say is thanks as always and about the stones thing - we are way ahead of you, man. ; ) More Mamoru and Usagi in the next chapter, so on to the next one! - A.C. 


	16. Revealing Answers

**A.N. **I've rewritten this chapter three times. I'm still a little iffy about this version, but I think it makes the most sense. I hope you aren't disappointed with the solutions to most of the mysteries.

_The Dreamer's Kingdom_

**Chapter Fifteen: Revealing Answers**

* * *

Rei rolled over in her bed and opened her eyes. 

Seeing the man asleep in the opposite bed she sucked in a breath and sat up.

_Why is Lord Kunzite in my room?_

She blinked and took a moment to breath deeply. Then she finally remembered.

"Ye gods."

Kunzite didn't stir, which she found odd – but considering the battle they'd been through yesterday, she supposed it wasn't too strange.

She sat still for a moment, listening – but there was nothing there. Jadeite had succeeded in helping her block out his voice. But he had been much more successful than he knew. Rei remembered a bit more than simply how to control her own mind. Quite a bit more.

"Aino Minako," she whispered as she stood up to stretch, "you've got a lot of explaining to do."

* * *

Mina's eyes fluttered open as she felt the warm sunshine on her face. She squinted and stretched, and then wished she hadn't because for some reason her arm was very sore. 

"Ouch."

She heard a rustling sound and turned to see Ami and her mother. They were standing over her with matching expressions in their dark eyes. They could have been sisters, Ami's mother was still so young looking and extraordinarily beautiful. Ami would look just like her someday, Mina considered. How did that work with reincarnation?

Oh, well.

"How do you feel?" Dr. Mizuno asked, gently.

Mina smiled.

"I'm fine. But..." her face suddenly became very worried.

"Usagi and the others are safe," Ami assured her.

Mina nodded.

"I know," she replied, "But did I win my bet with Haruka?"

* * *

"We've talked with Setsuna and she's straightened everything out with the government in Kyoto and Osaka – apparently there was some confusion and a rumor that Usagi had released the plague herself got started." 

"How stupid can some people be?"

Michiru shrugged at Makoto's question.

"Obviously ruling the world is a lot harder than it looks." Haruka muttered as Usagi skipped into the room, dressed and ready for the day.

"Hello, everyone!" she called.

"You're certainly in a good mood," Makoto grinned.

"Of course!" Usagi laughed, "Mamo-chan is back!"

Haruka and Michiru exchanged a meaningful glance with one another and burst into undignified giggles.

"What's so funny?" Mako asked.

"Nothing," Michiru chuckled.

"We'll tell you when you're older," Haruka smirked.

Makoto rolled her eyes.

"You two are about as mature as -"

"Good morning."

She closed her mouth with a snap and turned to see Nephrite enter the room. To her surprise he looked worse than he had yesterday – as if he hadn't slept at all.

"Are you feeling any better?" she asked.

He nodded, but wouldn't look at her.

Makoto felt rather hurt and so she stirred her breakfast listlessly.

"Makoto," Rei said as she swept gracefully into the room, "please come with me."

"Right now?"

"Yes," the other girl nodded.

"But I haven't finished breakfast -"

"I think you'll find this more interesting than breakfast."

Rei's quiet reply got Makoto's attention at last. Something was up. She took her dishes to the kitchen and followed the other girl out.

"What was that all about?" Haruka wondered.

Michiru frowned in thought.

The other Shitennou filed into the room slowly, preparing their breakfasts and sitting to eat silently.

"What's with all the long faces?" Haruka asked, after a moment, "You rescued the King yesterday, shouldn't you be happy?"

The men looked up at her and then at one another – a sudden understanding in their eyes.

"We are happy," Kunzite replied, "more than I can express. It's just that we're anxious to do the work we were sent here to do."

"How do you know what you were sent here to do?" she asked, quietly.

The others continued to eat in silence.

"Shitennou."

They turned as one to see Mamoru standing in the doorway.

"I've been thinking over my experience in the Dark Kingdom," he announced without preamble,"...quite a bit. And I have come to a conclusion. I think we need to go back."

"With respect, sire," Zoisite spoke up, "I agree that it is necessary to seal the rupture so that Chaos cannot return, but surely your presence isn't necessary?"

"I don't agree."

They all stared at him, and even Usagi, who'd just come out of the kitchen, was startled into silence by his odd tone and intense look.

"Mamo-chan, why do you want to go back?" she asked, softly, "I can seal Chaos away."

"I know, angel," he said, "but I think there's more work to be done there than simply repairing a hole."

"What's your plan, Mamoru?" Haruka asked, intrigued.

"While I was in the Dark Kingdom, trapped in that worthless prison again, I had another dream," he began, "or at least, I thought it was a dream at the time."

"Helios came to me and warned me that the heart of the Earth, as he called it, was in danger."

"Well, he's visited you in your dreams before," Usagi pointed out, "he must have meant that Chaos was a threat to us -"

"I thought so too," he interrupted, gently, "but now I realize that what I saw wasn't a dream, but a memory."

"But how can that be?"

"I'm not sure, but I have a theory," he said. The Shitennou were riveted on his every word.

"Kunzite, you told me to be patient and my memories of the Silver Millennium time period would return. Well I have been patient and I think that they are finally coming back to me. In my memory of Helios we were standing in a beautiful, yet deserted place – Elysian."

"The Golden Kingdom," Jadeite whispered.

"Yes," Mamoru nodded, "A place that I am now certain we must return to."

"But how can we do that?" Zoisite asked, "We don't even know where it is, or if it even exists anymore except in the realm of dreams."

"I don't understand, Mamo-chan."

"While I was in the Dark Kingdom," he said, "the Golden Crystal started to act on it's own – I know what you're going to say and no, I don't believe the crystal itself is sentient, but I do think there was a force exerting its will on the crystal besides myself."

"And what is more than interesting," he continued, "is that it seemed to me, even in that dark place, that the very ground in the Dark Kingdom was somehow...responsive to the crystal."

They stared at him for some moments.

"How is that possible?" Zoisite asked, at last, "That would have to mean that..."

Mamoru caught his eye and answered:

"Yes. That the Dark Kingdom was once the Golden Kingdom."

Usagi and the Senshi gasped, but the Shitennou seemed almost unsurprised.

"It all makes sense," Jadeite spoke, "Of course Beryl didn't create something new. Why should she? After we betrayed everyone she had everything she needed right there."

"So it wasn't Earth she wanted to rule, it was Elysian." Nephrite murmured.

"The person who rules Elysian, rules Earth," Kunzite said.

They turned to him in surprise.

"I remember," he spoke, quietly, "during the time we lived on Earth, Elysian, which most thought was only a story, actually became accessible once more because the goddess had chosen her King."

"She chose you," he told Mamoru.

Mamoru smiled.

"Only we five were allowed to enter Elysian – she chose all of us." he answered.

"You betrayed the Golden Kingdom to Beryl and that's why she was able to control the Earth," Haruka said.

"But the Senshi betrayed you." Michiru added, her voice sorrowful.

"It doesn't matter," Kunzite answered, shortly, "it was still our responsibility."

Haruka looked at Michiru, who merely shrugged.

"I have to revive the Golden Kingdom," Mamoru spoke, firmly, "and I need the four of you to help me do it. So you can't go back to being stones just yet."

"Oh, don't look at me like that," he grumbled, "you don't think I don't know what you're planning in those noble, ridiculous minds of yours?"

"But there's something you don't understand," Jadeite began, "there are more factors -"

"If you mean the Senshi, I'd think they'd be glad to have their lovers back." Haruka stated, flatly.

The four men were silent. It had been something all of them had known or come to realize by now, the unspoken truth lurking in their hearts, but to hear someone say it out loud felt like the final charm breaking the spell of the past.

Usagi suddenly squealed.

"I knew it!" she shouted, dancing around the table to Mamoru, and hitting the Shitennou on the head as she went.

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! You are in love with them!"

"_Were_ in love with them," Zoisite corrected, rubbing his sore head.

"Right." Haruka drawled.

"So you're not in love now?" Michiru asked, skeptically.

"Of course not."

"Don't be absurd."

"It's impossible."

Kunzite said nothing, but his face was unremittingly grim and foreboding.

"Haruka, my dear, why are men so thick-headed?"

"I don't know, sweetheart, but thank god we aren't male."

"That is unfair," Zoisite complained, "You never believe anything we say anyway."

"That's because you lie to yourselves all the time," Haruka retorted.

"I saw you looking at Ami," she went on, with a snort, "I'm not blind and neither are you!"

Zoisite retained a haughty composure, but there was a faint blush on his cheeks.

"If you're so all knowing and wise," Jadeite snapped, "then tell me this. If we're in love with the Senshi then why would we be willing to return to being stones? Doesn't that prove that we merely want to rest in peace?"

"You have to be joking me," Mamoru laughed, and they turned to him in shock.

"Oh, come on, Jade," he smirked, "you of all people want to 'rest in peace'? I'm not buying that and neither will the Senshi. I remember what fools you all made of yourselves over them, and you might as well just face up to the fact that you're dangerously close to doing it all over again."

The younger of the Shitennou looked embarrassed and uncomfortable, but Kunzite remained stolid.

"Whether we are in love with the Senshi or not," he remarked, "it doesn't change the fact that we gave up whatever rights we might have had to their affection a long time ago. Of course we will help you rebuild the Golden Kingdom, if you wish it. But we won't do anything more."

"Not even if I command you to do it?" Mamoru asked softly, his eyes glittering.

Kunzite bowed his head.

"Anything you ask us to do, we will do."

Mamoru sighed and flicked a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Kunzite, stop acting like a servant. You are my friend," he stressed, "I would never order you to do something you were dead set against – I just don't see why you won't allow yourselves to be happy..."

"Or to let the Senshi be happy," Michiru pointed out.

They were all silent.

"Speaking of the Senshi," Usagi quipped, "do they know that you're planning on being rocks again when this is all over?"

The four men avoided her clear blue gaze.

"Because I didn't," she remarked, "and I don't think it's a good idea."

"We...haven't told them...anything." Nephrite murmured.

"Well, don't you think it's time that you did?" Usagi suggested, gently.

"But would it really do any good?" Jadeite asked, gazing up at her.

"You'll never know until you try," she smiled, "but I think they at least deserve to know the truth about the past. As it is right now, I don't think they even know why they betrayed you. I don't even know the particulars. And that's a bad feeling to have – I think you can understand that, can't you?"

"Yes," Nephrite replied, chastened.

"Well, then," Usagi grinned, putting her hands on her hips, "what are you waiting for?"

"Mamo-chan," she commanded, "You will have your kingdom back and I will help you rebuild it myself! And then the Senshi and Shitennou can get married with us – it'll be a quadruple wedding!"

"Actually, since there's five couples, it would be a..." Zoisite faded off as he realized what he was saying.

"I think you're going a little fast, Usako," Mamoru interrupted, "I want you to help me, but I think we should go one step at a time."

"Well, what do you want me to do?" she asked.

"First, we need to seal Chaos off from the Dark Kingdom," he said, reaching out absently to play with her hair, "We can do that together, I hope."

She nodded.

"And then I want to ask you for a special favor."

"Of course, Mamo-chan!"

"Those four men who attacked us were tricked into their deaths because of Chaos' lies. I think they deserve better than that, don't you?"

Her eyes became soft and she smiled.

"Nothing to it," she said, "I won't let them miss out on their future lives."

He smiled.

"This is just too cute for words," Michiru murmured.

"Can you imagine what it'll be like when they're all this mushy?" Haruka gagged.

"Speaking of the Quartet," Zoisite said, "who do you think the future king is that they were sent to protect?"

"Well, could it be your son, sire?" Jadeite asked Mamoru.

Mamoru and Usagi exchanged an embarrassed glance.

"Uh, actually," he stuttered, "I – uh – we are – no, I don't think it could be."

"We're going to have a daughter," Usagi explained, her cheeks a bit red, "she'll be the future princess."

"Oh."

"How do you know that?" Zoisite asked, surprised.

"Because queens of the Moon always have one daughter," Michiru explained smoothly.

"Oh."

"So, the future king would be...maybe the husband of your daughter?" Jadeite pursued.

"Well, that's possible, yes," Mamoru admitted. Suddenly he and Usagi exchanged startled glances.

"I think we should get back to the topic of you four fessing up," Haruka commented, quickly.

"It may be necessary to remind the Senshi of that particular part of the past," Nephrite admitted, "I can even see that it's the kindest thing to do for them. But let us do it in our own way and our own time."

"As long as you do it," Mamoru agreed.

"We will," Kunzite promised.

The others nodded, but they didn't look very happy about the prospect.

* * *

"What was so important that I had to miss breakfast?" Makoto grumbled. She was perched on the edge of Mina's bed. 

Mina had been officially discharged that morning but had opted to rest for a few more hours before going back to work. This was at Dr. Mizuno's suggestion, but Mina certainly hadn't put up much of a fight.

"You can have some of mine," she offered.

"Uck, hospital food," Mako gagged, "no thanks."

Mina shrugged and kept eating.

"I'm just waiting for – oh, there you are, Ami." Rei sat in the chair by Mina's bed, but rose when Ami came in the room and let her have it. Ami had already had two meetings that morning with the heads of state to assure them on that the cause of the plague had been found and there was no danger of another outbreak or from the recent enemy activity. As a result she was a bit tired.

"I'm sorry it took me so long," she apologized and gratefully sat in the chair.

"It's alright. We have some time before any of us have to be back."

"So, what is all the fuss about, Rei-chan?" Ami asked, smoothing the non-existent wrinkles of her suit.

Rei crossed her arms and said:

"Why don't you ask Minako?"

Mina spat her food out in surprise.

"Me?" she squeaked, "I've been asleep since yesterday, I couldn't have done anything!"

"Oh, yes you could." Rei answered, narrowing her eyes, "You deliberately withheld pertinent information from us...again."

Mina turned rather pale.

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't told us why we would have betrayed the Shitennou, or how."

"But I did; we gave away their secret."

"That's not an answer, Mina, that's a newspaper headline. I want the whole thing."

"But Rei," Mina sighed, shoving her food tray off her lap, "You don't know what you're asking."

"Actually, thanks to Jadeite, I do."

"You do?" Mina breathed, her eyes wide. Ami and Makoto watched the two as though they were watching a table tennis match.

"Yes. So if you won't tell them," she glanced at the other two, "then I will."

Rei and Mina gazed at each other for a moment, while the other two looked on, tensely.

"Alright," Mina said, "we can both tell them."

"About time!" Mako grumbled.

"Is it about our past relationships with the Shitennou?" Ami asked, quietly.

Rei and Mina looked at her sharply.

"You remember?"

"No," she stammered, blushing, "I just sort of guessed."

"Wait," Mako crossed her arms, "Wait, you said we were all friends, Mina."

"And she didn't lie," Rei interjected, "we were friends, but that isn't the whole truth."

Makoto sat back, wide eyed.

"In the past," Mina sighed, composing her hands on her knees, "we were very close with the Shitennou; some of us were closer than others."

She glanced at Rei who gave a small smirk.

"But after a little while, those friendships developed into something more...and we...fell in love."

Ami's hands went to her face to cover her cheeks.

Oddly, Mako's only reaction was to smile.

"So we were in love with Mamoru's Shitennou?" she asked, "Just like Serenity was in love with Endymion?"

"Yes," Mina nodded, noticing the slip.

Makoto sighed and leaned back, smiling even wider.

"I knew it," she said.

"Oh, dear," Ami's muffled voice came from the other side of Mina's bed.

"I know this is all very difficult to take in," Mina said, "but you have to understand how much we were in love with them to understand why – how we could betray them."

All the girls' faces fell and their eyes darkened.

"Just after Serenity and Endymion became secretly engaged, a woman appeared to us from the Earth. She was an ambassador from the Earth's kingdom and she became very interested in the four of us and our relationships with the four Shitennou."

"At that time," Mina continued, "None of us was engaged; Kunzite and I were barely even courting -"

Rei chuckled, "It was more like you were courting him, and he was babysitting you."

"Thanks, Rei," Mina answered, sourly, "I suppose you and Jadeite could have given us a few pointers?"

Rei's smirk disappeared as the other two stared at her.

"You and Jadeite?" Mako whispered, "No way!"

"If I recall correctly, he was something of a ladies man," Ami commented, suddenly sitting up very straight, with her hands folded in her lap. They blinked at her oddly formal tone.

"They were all ladies' men; except for my Kunzite, of course."

"Jadeite wasn't a ladies' man, for your information," Rei growled, "at least not compared to the other two."

"Well, how would you know anyway!" Mina retorted, "You constantly went out of your way to put him in his place, miss high and mighty."

"Whoa there," Mako threw her arms up, "Let's just calm down now. No one is calling anyone's reincarnated, once evil ex-lover a skirt chaser. We're all friends here, right?"

Rei and Mina shook their heads and their eyes cleared somewhat.

"I'm sorry," Mina stumbled, "I just...wow...it just comes flooding back to me sometimes and I -"

"I understand," Rei said, quietly.

"I'm glad somebody does," Mako remarked sotto voce.

"But this is exactly how Beryl did it," Mina said, "I mean, this is the very thing that caught us up the first time."

"Jealousy, you mean?" Ami asked.

"Jealousy, insecurity; she knew those emotions like the back of her hand," Rei murmured, darkly, "And she used those insecurities to her advantage. That's how she got us to tell her their names."

"Their names?" Mako asked, puzzled, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"In the time of the Silver Millennium," Ami explained, looking more like a princess every second, "the people of the Earth had many names, some used for formal occasions and some known only to their families. And their personal names were often used as passwords."

"Passwords?"

"For instance," Rei clarified, "if someone were to give a very important order or message, the message could be trusted because the messenger would use the recipient's true name – and that way when a message had to be passed from world to world..."

"Then the name would provide security," Mako finished, "I understand."

Unconsciously she sat up straighter and folded her hands gracefully beside her.

"The Shitennou gave us their names," Ami continued, almost speaking to herself, "and we in turn gave those names to Beryl."

"But why?" Mako asked, "Why would we ever have done such a thing?"

"Because Beryl knew we were in love with men that we could never be with," Rei replied, her voice dark, "They were from Earth, and we were sworn guardians, and yet we managed to fall in love in spite of everything. It was foolishness -"

"It was destiny," Mina broke in, grandly, "It was never meant to be anything other than a beautiful, ephemeral dream – but there was nothing wrong or foolish about it. You know that."

Rei didn't answer, but her eyes grew sadder.

"She convinced us, through crafty words, that the Shitennou – who remained on the Earth and far from us – were losing interest...and, who knows why now, but we believed her. And to prove that we were their only loves we gave away the proof of their love and trust to her..."

"I think I can understand it," Mako spoke, softly – her mind was teeming with half remembered dreams.

"I always thought he'd get tired of a child like me," she whispered. No one wondered who she was talking about.

"So did I," Mina said, "I pretended I was confident, but every time he left I was terrified it would be the last time. I was always afraid that I'd overstep the boundaries of his patience at any moment."

"I knew better," Rei smiled to herself, "but I still believed her when she said he'd found someone else. He was always attracted to beautiful things."

"I never thought," Ami started, then swallowed.

"I never understood why someone like him would choose me, of all people," she laughed weakly.

"I could never hold his attention. He had to be playing with me, even when he said he wasn't. He was always playing games. But I should have known better..."

"We all should have."

"The real question," Mina sighed, slipping off the bed, "is not what what we should have done."

"It's what we should do now."

They all looked at each other with uncertainty.

"That depends, of course," Rei answered, carefully.

"On whether or not we still..." she trailed off but her meaning was clear enough.

"Well," Mina sighed after a moment, slipping into her robe, "I do."

They all blinked at her.

"You mean you're still -" Mako made a gesture.

"In love?" Mina asked, brightly, "Why is that so hard for the rest of you to say? I swear sometimes I fear you're all emotionally retarded."

"Hey!"

"Except you, Mako."

"Thanks."

"It's not something you just jump into blindly," Rei remarked, "Not all of us fall in love with anything that moves and is male."

"You are referring to a crush," Mina argued, pulling on her shoes and pants underneath the robe.

"Do you want us to leave so you can -" Ami motioned.

"No," Mina answered, surprised, "I don't care."

Ami sighed.

"Back to what I was saying," Mina continued, wriggling into her shirt, "Kunzite was hard enough for me snatch the first time - I think he'll be almost impossible now. But do you see me giving up? No!"

"But, how can you be sure that what you feel isn't the product of your memories?" Ami argued.

Mina, now fully clothed, threw off her robe and put her hands on her hips.

"You are talking to the incarnation of the Goddess of Love, Ami," she smiled, "I know what I'm talking about - and I'm talking about true love."

Rei groaned and resisted rolling her eyes.

"Don't give me that, you," Mina threw an accusing glance at her, "I've seen the way Jadeite looks at you, and the way you look back when you think no one sees you. And I know about your little mind reading tricks too."

"Minako!" Rei growled.

"Mind reading..." Mako muttered, puzzled.

"And you, Ami," Mina continued as the other girl cowered in the corner, "You blush whenever Zoisite smiles at you, and when he's acting like his past self you positively melt."

"I don't!" Ami squeaked indignantly, but she was blushing.

"And you -" Mina began.

"Hey!" Mako jumped off the bed, "You don't have to say anything. I like Nephrite already, ok? And that was before I knew he was my past...whatever."

"You do?" Mina asked, "You certainly hid it well."

Mako shrugged.

"Forgive me if I'm not prepared to just jump back into his arms because I happen to remember..." Rei stopped talking as she realized where her thoughts were headed.

Mina smirked.

"Within the week, if you don't kiss that boy then my name isn't Aino Minako!"

"I'll get your birth certificate ready," Rei promised.

"Gripe all you want to," Mina called as she waltzed out the door, "but lady love will have the last laugh."

"That's 'lady luck', Mina," Mako said as she and the others scrambled after the blond.

"Whatever."

"But, Mina, what if we do like them," Ami stuttered, "but they don't - ah - what if they don't -"

"Reciprocate?" Mina chimed.

"Well, yes..."

"They're still in love with us," Mina exclaimed, "I'm sure of it."

"Really?" Rei asked, then caught herself and remembered to look foreboding.

"Yes, and I'll prove it."

The three doubtful Senshi followed the newly re-instated love goddess down the hall of the hospital.

* * *

"So you want to return to what is left of the Dark Kingdom and try to...rebuild it?" Luna's confused voice asked over the speakers of Mamoru's computer. 

"Something like that," he admitted, watching her fuzzy face frowning on his computer screen.

"What does Kunzite have to say about this plan?"

"I am for it," the silver haired stoic spoke up. He sat comfortably in the office chair across from Mamoru. They had all moved out of the dinning room an hour ago and now the two royals, the Shitennou and the older Senshi were seated in Mamoru's office holding a conference with the advisers of the realm.

"Interesting," Artemis' voice chimed in, "It would be amazing if it actually works."

"It will work," Mamoru frowned.

"You'll have to be very careful," Luna warned, "this sounds like a huge undertaking."

"Too bad we won't be here to see it," Haruka remarked, "We both have to be back by tomorrow."

"I think the Senshi can handle being in charge for a few days," Michiru remarked.

"If it takes a few days," Jadeite muttered. Somehow he had a feeling that the job of restoring the Golden Kingdom wouldn't be as easy as everyone else seemed to expect. He caught Nephrite's eyes and the other man grimaced.

Jadeite just caught the trail of his thoughts. His powers were finally starting to return to him in full force along with his memories. Wistfully he felt the absence of Rei's mind as he inadvertently brushed out to find her. She would never be that close to him again, but he couldn't help yearning for that connection. It had been the desire of his life a long time ago. It still was.

Nephrite's thoughts ran along similar lines. Last night he'd finally come to the realization that his princess was alive and well and currently living in the same house with him under the name of Kino Makoto. That she had been so close for so long without his knowing it seemed unthinkable, and yet it didn't change the way he felt about her at all. In point of fact, Jadeite reflected, if Nephrite's thoughts were any indication - his attitude toward Jupiter hadn't change a bit.

Jadeite sighed. After so many years of separation, to be reunited with their loves at last (even if they weren't exactly loved in return) seemed like it would turn out to be the bitterest of hardships for them. Once they returned to stones.

Of course, he already knew that Rei would be fine without him. She still felt some attraction for him, he knew, but it was nothing compared to the passion they'd once experienced. Surely something like that, once lost, could never be reclaimed.

The sudden slam of the office door opening had him on his feet in an instant.

"Uh, why is the coffee mug floating in front of you, Mamoru?" Artemis asked as he peered out from the computer screen.

"Sorry," Jadeite murmured, "Instincts."

The coffee mug floated back down to the table and he resumed his seat.

"You thought a coffee mug would make a good shield?" Nephrite whispered.

"It was the only thing at hand," Jadeite hissed.

"Can I help you, Minako?" Mamoru asked, politely.

"No, unfortunately," she smiled, "but he can."

They all looked to the back of the room where her finger had unerringly picked out Kunzite's rigid figure.

He raised one eyebrow in elegant surprise.

"I'm glad to see you looking so well," he said, quietly.

"Thank you," she answered, marching toward him determinedly while the other Senshi tottled behind her like baby geese after their mother.

"What's going on, Minako?" Haruka asked.

"I'm proving a theory," Mina answered, then raised her hand in front of Kunzite's head.

"Watch," she ordered the girls.

There was a flash of golden light and then - nothing.

"Is that it?" Rei asked, dryly.

"Excuse me, Mina," Ami stuttered, "But I don't see how this shows that -"

"Why didn't it work?" Mina asked in a shocked tone. She stared at her finger and waved it around.

"What did you expect to happen?" Zoisite asked, interestedly.

"Well, not nothing!" Mina snapped, then glared at Kunzite who stared back at her unmoved.

"What did you do?" she hissed.

He merely shrugged.

"Mina, let's just let them get back to whatever they were doing," Mako suggested, "I think you can prove your point another time."

"What were you trying to prove?" Nephrite asked.

Mako blushed.

"Nothing," she mumbled.

Haruka and Michiru exchanged a glance.

"No! There's no reason for this to have happened," Mina ranted, "Nothing can break that unless either party decides that -"

She gasped suddenly and looked up at Kunzite in amazement.

He began to feel the tiniest bit nervous.

"What is it, Mina-chan?" Artemis asked, "What happened?"

Mina suddenly blushed happily.

"You kept your promise," she sighed.

Kunzite gripped the arms of his chair and let out a strangled noise.

Everyone stared at him in shocked silence.

"Oh, ho ho," Mina laughed, sauntering toward him, "You sly devil, you. That's why the golden mark wouldn't appear."

"Not here, Minako!" he hissed.

"You see," she turned to the three younger Senshi, still pointing at Kunzite as though her was her trophy.

"I bonded him to me in the Silver Millennium," she proclaimed, "and when I tried again a few weeks ago the mark appeared again - which means that someone has a crush."

"Minako!" Kunzite growled in warning. His men cringed away from him in fear and incredulity. Haruka and Michiru started to grin.

"But what he doesn't know is that the mark is also tied to the promise he made a million years ago." she continued, "You see he was very hung up on the fact that we had such a large age difference and therefore we couldn't do anything fun until I turned eighteen."

Kunzite's eyes looked murderous as they rested on Minako's face.

"Can you deny it!?" she cried, dramatically, "You promised you'd kiss me when I turned eighteen."

"Yes," he said through clenched teeth, "I did say that - it was for your own good."

"And what you didn't know," Mina continued, blithely, "is that in order to seal the deal I made sure the mark would fade after you gave me that kiss...so that means..."

"That means..." Zoisite breathed.

"But that means -" Mako gasped.

"You kissed her!" Usagi shrieked.

"You kissed her?" Zoisite yelped.

"He kissed her!?" Artemis screamed in fury, making the computer speakers buzz.

Kunzite sighed and closed his eyes, wishing for death.

"And that," Mina announced, proudly, "proves my point that the Shitennou are still in love with us."

The three younger Shitennou nearly fell out of their chairs. The only sound was that of Haruka's applause.

"That was what you wanted to know?" Nephrite asked, his piercing eyes settling on Makoto's blushing face. Jadeite and Zoisite stared at the Senshi, their disbelieving eyes beginning to waken as the truth dawned on them.

The Senshi gulped as one.

"All bets are on," Haruka mumbled to Michiru, "I'll lay you three to one Rei and Jadeite go first."

"I heard that!" Rei shouted in anger.

"You're on," Michiru answered, lazily, "I bet you Zoisite gets Ami before the end of the day."

"W-what?" Ami whimpered.

"What about me?" Mako complained, "I'm the one who actually has a -"

She threw her hands over her mouth.

"I think we should talk," Nephrite suggested, nearly jumping out of his chair. Jadeite and Zoisite moved to follow his example, but a gruff cough from Kunzite halted them in their tracks, just barely. They were staring at the Senshi as though they were starving men suddenly caught in an un-looked for shower of nectar and ambrosia.

All three of the younger senshi began to back slowly out of the room.

"We need to have a senshi meeting," Rei declared, boldly, "for senshi business. Come on, Mina!"

"But I -"

"Mina, now!"

Mina shrugged and followed the other Senshi out of the room, pausing to wink at Kunzite as they pulled her out the door.

"Well this will be fun," Haruka announced, catching Mamoru's eyes and grinning.

The King blinked and slowly smiled.

"I think it will." he replied, avoiding the unamused look Kunzite directed toward him. But he was secretly more pleased with having found a way to keep the Shitennou from wanting to return to their old life just yet. And if they were all supremely lucky, perhaps forever.


	17. Goodbyes

**A.N. **I just want to make sure it's clear that the Shitennou's names aren't magic – because the names are only one part of the betrayal story and it'll be important later. They're just normal names. - I can't believe you people are still with us, this story is so long and insane! All I can say is thanks and I hope you enjoy this chapter. We're almost through.

_

* * *

_

The Dreamer's Kingdom 

**Chapter Sixteen: Goodbyes**

* * *

"Why are we in the closet?" 

"Because I don't want Kunzite to find us, now get your elbow out of my eye."

Zoisite tried to shift his weight past the coats and tripped on a shoe box, falling into Nephrite's lap.

"Was it really necessary to have this conversation in the closet?" Nephrite grumbled, shoving Zoisite off of him.

"Yes," Jadeite answered, "because we all saw how Kunzite reacted to Minako's interesting demonstration."

"That's the truth," Nephrite chuckled.

"So," Zoisite sighed, trying to crouch in a more comfortable position.

"So."

"So."

They all squinted at each other in the darkness.

"I never thought I'd say this twice in two lifetimes, but -," Zoisite took a deep breath.

"We have to do something about those Senshi."

"Definitely."

"The question is: what?"

They were silent for a moment in thought.

"I can't believe they still -" Jadeite began, "I mean, how...is it possible? After everything that's happened?"

"I don't know," Nephrite shook his head, "I have no idea. Do you think they remember everything?"

"I can't tell," Jadeite answered, "It's pretty obvious that they remember the facts, at least."

"If Ami remembers half of the things I tried on her," Zoisite shuddered, "She'd have killed me by now."

The other two reached out in the darkness to hit him and ended up hitting each other instead.

"Ow!"

"Well, at least there's a bright side to all this," Zoisite went on, "We have a second chance to woo them, and this time there's no ancient enmities, or universal taboos, or evil, jealous usurpers to worry about. I'd say we have a much higher chance for success."

Nephrite rubbed his face with his hand and sighed.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he mumbled.

"What?" Zoisite nearly yelled. The building excitement and euphoria he'd been holding in was close to bursting out of him.

"Nephrite, we're alive! They're alive! And they love us!" He laughed and fell back ward into the boxes of summer clothing.

"We don't know that, you buffoon!" Jadeite growled, though Zoisite's enthusiasm was causing his own tightly restrained feelings to tug at their chains.

"And even if they do actually...well," Nephrite sighed, "there's still the fact that we are going to be stones again, so it doesn't matter anyway."

Silence reigned in the closet once more.

"But...," Zoisite began, then stopped.

"I think," Jadetie said, "that we should keep our promise to Mamoru."

"You mean tell them about becoming stones again?"

"Yes," he nodded, "I think we should do it today."

"It'll will be twice as hard now," Zoisite muttered, "and I don't care what the rest of you say; even if she doesn't know she is, Ami is in love with me."

"I'll admit when I first realized they remembered everything and that they were curious about how we felt, I thought - well, I reacted without thinking..." Nephrite said, "I just wish I knew for certain."

"We can find out," Zoisite suggested, quietly.

"If we take this too far," Jadeite countered, "If they do feel something, we'll just be stringing them along."

"Tell her you're leaving and see what happens," Zoisite answered.

"This is the last day we have," Nephrite murmured, "Mamoru wants to go back tomorrow."

"This is our last chance to tell them," Zoisite concluded, "And you two can do what you want, but I'm going to find out if I've got a reason to side step fate."

With that he shoved on the door to the closet and tumbled into the light.

Nephrite and Jadeite looked at each other for a long moment. Then they turned and climbed out of the closet.

* * *

"Ohmigodomigod!" 

"Calm down!" Mina commanded.

Mako was close to hyperventilating, lying back on Mina's bed. Rei sat in one corner of the room, fuming, and Ami tried to make herself as small as possible in the other corner.

"How can you tell me to calm down!" Mako shouted, tossing a pillow at Mina who ducked nimbly.

"This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me!" she wailed.

"What are you talking about?"

"In one day - one day - I have not only rediscovered my entire past, but the guy that I had a crush on is my past lover - and he might still be in love with me."

"What is wrong with that?" Mina asked, desperately, "You're all acting like it's a tragedy!"

"It was a tragedy, Mina," Rei snapped, "Why don't you get it? This is impossible. How can they still be in love with us after we betrayed them?"

"And who wants them to be!?" she added, furiously.

"Oh, dear!" Ami murmured for about the hundredth time in an hour.

Mina threw her hands up in the air and closed her eyes.

"For the love of cheese," she sighed, "why all the dramatics? This is really simple. They love us, we love them, everything works out."

"But there's more to it than that," Rei argued, "For instance, this isn't the Silver Millennium - I don't have to abide by the dictates of fate or whatever. Did you know I was considering taking a vow of chastity before I met that man?"

Mina blinked.

"Really?"

"Yes, and I still might!" Rei growled, "Because I'm sure it won't cause me half the trouble he has in the past."

"But -"

"Rei's right," Mako exclaimed, "I thought it'd be great to have him back, but did you see the look he gave me when you spilled the beans, Mina? I'm not ready for all this!"

"Now you're just being silly -"

"Oh, Mina," Ami said, "This really is too much. If I only had time to get used to it all. Some of my memories are rather..." she blushed and neglected to finish.

Mina slumped into her chair.

_What is wrong with them? Don't they want to be in love? _It was unfathomable to her - she couldn't imagine a person who didn't want to be in love. Except for Kunzite, of course, but he was -

"I get it," she said suddenly, glancing at all of them in turn.

"Oh, do you?"

"Yes," she answered, "You're all scared."

They stared at her.

"I most certainly am not," Rei retorted, but her eyes gave her away. The other two were silent.

"It's alright, you know," Mina went on, "There's nothing wrong with being afraid. It is a lot to handle and you should take your time getting used to it. I'm sure they are having similar feelings."

"You think so?" Mako asked, a bit relieved.

Mina frowned.

"Yes. Love is an uncertain thing, especially with as much history behind us as we have. But don't take too long figuring it out..."

She rose to leave.

"Where are you going?" Ami asked.

"To find Kunzite and convince him that I know best, as usual."

"And," she added, "to say goodbye. He and the others are leaving tomorrow, or did you forget?"

"They're leaving?" Mako echoed.

"Yes, so make sure you tell everyone goodbye because we'll be in charge for a while."

She smiled and left the other three blinking blankly at each other.

"Well," Ami said at last, "I suppose talking to Zoisite about the past couldn't hurt anything. Just to help us clear the air, of course."

"Yeah," Mako nodded, "There's no harm in talking about it."

"Calmly, rationally, and in a mature manner," Rei murmured, and shook her head.

It was going to be an interesting day.

* * *

"How are we doing so far?" Haruka asked. 

"Well," Usagi answered, "so far it doesn't look that good."

She and the other woman were lounging in the outdoor patio of her office, supposedly making last minute orders before she and Mamoru and the Shitennou left tomorrow. But they were doing a bit of spying instead.

"So far, Rei has locked herself in her office and Mako is making circles in the garden, talking out loud to no one. But Ami is actually looking for Zoisite."

"Damn," Haruka muttered.

"I'm not letting Michiru win, there's no knowing what she'll make me do if..." the older woman's voice faded as she caught Usagi's innocent gaze on her.

"Uh, let's see if we can't even the playing field; what do you say, kitten?"

"Sure! It's more interesting than this stuff any day." Usagi cried happily.

She jumped up to follow Haruka into the hall, only to run into Mamoru and Michiru.

Haruka halted and Usagi bumped into her.

"What are you two doing out here?" Haruka demanded, "I thought you were working on last minute plans."

"Well, we might ask you the same thing," Michiru pointed out, calmly.

"We were just coming to check on you," Mamoru said.

"And I suppose those field glasses are for us too?"

Mamoru hid the bird watching glasses behind his back.

"You were spying!" Usagi accused him.

"So were you!" He retorted.

"All's fair in love and war," Michiru murmured, smiling.

"Well it's about to get a lot fairer, come on, Usagi!" Haruka grabbed Usagi's hand and pulled her down the hallway toward Rei's room.

"I'm sure all of the Shitennou can work out their own problems without me," Mamoru commented, lightly.

He and Michiru shared a glance, then turned to walk hurriedly toward the library with the field glasses.

* * *

Ami didn't know quite why, but sitting at the library desk and watching Zoisite tap his foot across from her seemed very familiar. 

"Would you like a little air?" she asked, suddenly, "Libraries can be a bit stuffy, can't they?"

"Of course," he said and jumped out of his chair to take her hand and tuck it into his arm before she could protest. He led her out through the large glass doors and into the side yard of the house. The afternoon sun was wending its lazy way down through the sky.

"Zoistite," Ami began, gently jerking her hand away from him.

"Ami?"

"I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I have regained the larger portion of my memories and there are several things I'd like clarification on."

"Indeed?"

She didn't dare to look up at him, but she thought his tone sounded a bit amused.

_He'd better not tease me,_ she frowned, _or I'll..._

"Is it true that in the past you and I were...were..."

"Lovers?" Zoisite provided smoothly.

Ami turned bright red and sucked in her breath.

"Sadly, no," he continued, "we weren't acknowledged lovers. I made it known to the world, of course, but for some reason you persisted in maintaining that you didn't reciprocate."

"I didn't!" she exclaimed, "And besides, how could I - everyone knew you were a flirt!"

"Well, that's fair," he admitted, not sounding at all ashamed, "I was and I am, but I did do my best to convince you of the sincerity of my affection."

"Yes," Ami frowned, "About that..."

She stopped and looked up at him, taking a breath and steeling herself.

"There are a few memories that are very...suspicious, and I think you ought to explain yourself."

Zoisite smiled suavely and took her hand.

"Of course, my dear, but wouldn't you be more comfortable talking about this on that bench?"

"No."

He sighed and said:

"Yes, well, about those memories...I was only trying to prove to you how much I loved you."

Ami blushed again.

"Forgive me, but I don't see how your sneaking into my bedroom at night, or locking me in the bathhouse with you, or kidnapping me and taking me to Venus of all places -"

"Ah, yes," he grinned, and his eyes took on a special glow as he gazed down at her.

"You have to admit that was a nice touch on my part," he said, leaning closer, "after all, it was the only place one could have a wedding for minors with no questions asked."

"That is exactly what I mean!" Ami spluttered, "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because I love you, Ami," he said simply.

Ami's eyes widened.

"You..._love_ me?" she asked.

"Most definitely."

Ami almost let herself be caught in his gaze but jerked her head away at the last minute.

"Well, I need some..time to think about that."

Zoisite's eyes grew sad.

"That's the problem, Ames," he answered, "Time is something we don't have much of -"

"What do you mean?" She turned sharply to look up at him.

"I know you're leaving tomorrow, but you'll be back soon, won't you?"

The edge of wistfulness in her voice was not lost on him.

"Yes, but, you see after we've accomplished this mission for Mamoru...well, we all decided before we ever came to Tokyo that, no matter what happened, as soon as we were finished with our work we would...go back to where we came from."

Ami stared at him, her mind utterly blank.

"I don't understand."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked intently into her eyes.

"We deserved what fate gave us - and so we are going to return to being stones when the Golden Kingdom is resurrected."

Ami felt cold suddenly, as though she'd had a bucket of ice poured down her back.

"You're leaving forever then..." she murmured.

"Yes," Zoisite said, his eyes pained, "that is..."

Suddenly he embraced her, wrapping his arms around her and leaning his cheek on her hair.

"Ami, I don't want to go," he whispered, "I don't want to leave you again. But I don't know what to do."

Ami stood in his arms like a statue, so many emotions whirling through her brain that she couldn't make sense of anything. She swallowed and gingerly put her arms around him and felt him sigh. She took a deep breath and said the first thing that came into her head.

"Stay."

* * *

"Rei, can I come in?"

Rei silently opened the door but Jadeite remained outside.

"Haruka said you wanted to see me."

Rei frowned.

"I didn't say that," she answered.

"Oh," he looked vaguely surprised, "I'm sorry, I guess I misunderstood."

Rei snorted and kept her thoughts on Haruka's 'misunderstanding' to herself.

"Well, while you're here, you might as well come in," she mumbled.

He stepped over the threshold cautiously.

"I won't bite," she remarked, dryly, "I just wanted to talk to you before you left."

"I wanted to talk to you too," he answered, sitting on the offered chair by her desk.

They stared at one another awkwardly.

"About the past -" Rei began, but stopped.

"Look," he said, "it's really nothing to worry about. I realize that what happened in the Silver Millennium is ancient history now."

"It is?" she asked, involuntarily. _Damn it, I sound like an idiot._

"Well," he said, looking at her oddly, "That is, I thought you'd prefer it that way."

"Oh, well, there's nothing you can do about the past," she answered vaguely, "people change."

"Yes," he looked down at his hands.

"But I'd still like to know," she spoke after a moment, pausing to wet her lips, "how you felt about it all. Now, I mean."

"You want to know how I feel about our past?"

"If you don't mind," she added.

He stared at her so intensely that she wondered if she'd inadvertently made him angry. Finally he spoke:

"To be brutally honest, I wish it had never happened."

Rei felt the blood drain out of her face.

"I see," was all she could say. She heard a pounding in her ears and tried to slow her breathing, ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach. Did he despise her so much?

"I wish I had never felt a passion like that for anyone," he continued, "because I know that it could never happen again."

Rei stared at him. His eyes were swirling with pain and love and a thousand other emotions that seemed to suffocate her.

"I have never loved anyone the way I loved you," he said, "and I never will again. It simply isn't possible."

Suddenly he broke off his gaze and laughed.

"You know," he smiled, "in high school I dated a few times, but every girl I ever liked looked like you - your hair and your eyes - even your height. Neph used to tell me I was obsessed with the idea of perfection because no one could ever measure up to what I remembered of you. Even then."

"I never realized it before but you were the standard I used to judge every other woman. Even when I was -" he broke off, his eyes suddenly darkened.

"Even when I was working in the Dark Kingdom," he went on, "when I was your enemy, I was still struck by how beautiful you were."

"I killed you," she whispered, her eyes wide in shock.

He nodded.

"I don't blame you for that," he said, noticing her expression for the first time, "I don't blame you for anything."

"But you don't have to worry," he added, looking away, "because it won't be a problem for much longer."

"What do you mean?" she managed to ask. Her heart was beating so hard now that it was difficult to hear over the thudding.

"After we're finished rebuilding the Golden Kingdom, we are going to ask Mamoru to turn us back into stones. It's only fitting and I can't help but think that that's what fate must have had planned for us. It is what we deserve."

Rei wanted to speak desperately, but her words wouldn't come out. She could barely catch her breath. Unfortunately, Jadeite still wasn't looking at her.

"I'm sorry if I've burdened you with what I've said. But you asked me for the truth and I gave you an honest answer." When he did look back her gaze was fixed on the floor, the heavy dark sheet of her hair creating a screen.

"I won't bother you much longer, but...do you mind if I ask you a question, Rei?"

She shook her head.

"I just want to know," he murmured, "did you ever...was there ever a time that you...felt anything for me...even if it was a memory?"

His eyes were so wistful as they gazed down at her that Rei thought her heart would break.

Instead of answering his question she found herself clutching his hand with both of hers.

"Are you really going to leave me again?" she asked, her voice surprisingly level.

He blinked and timidly reached out a hand to lift her face up to the light.

"Do you want me...to stay?" he whispered, incredulously.

"I..." Rei gazed at him, "I don't know what I want...but-"

"But -"

"We may never be able to recapture the past," she admitted with a sigh,"but...I guess I'd like to try."

He looked at her for a long moment, then slowly tilted her face up and leaned down. Rei closed her eyes.

* * *

"You're what!?" Makoto screamed.

The sky, which had once been relatively sunny, began to darken very quickly. Nephrite controlled the urge to jump as he heard the rumble of distant thunder.

"Now, don't be upset, Mako."

"Don't be upset?" she repeated, "Don't be upset!?"

A huge bolt of lighting tore through the sky and nearly made him leap out of his skin.

"Does it look like I'm upset to you!?!" she yelled.

"Oh, I'm a dead man," he muttered.

"So you waltz into my life again, after I killed you once," she ranted, "and now you're going to waltz right back out!?"

She punched a nearby tree and the bark split with a sickening crack.

"But, Makoto, please, " he pleaded, "It's just - I didn't think -"

"No, you didn't!" she shouted, hurling a small rock at his head. He ducked and decided it would be safer behind a tree.

"Makoto, please calm down and let's talk about this rationally."

"I'll talk rationally!"

A bolt of lighting decimated the tree twenty feet in front of him.

"Makoto!" He begged, tumbling from behind the tree and facing her with a dead white face, "please, please be merciful. Please let me explain."

"Alright," she agreed, fiercely, "Explain."

He took a deep breath and tried to will his hands to stop shaking.

"I never meant to play with your emotions or deceive you," he said, "that was farthest from my intentions. And I certainly never meant to upset you, sweetheart. I wouldn't do that for the world."

Mako snorted, but seemed slightly appeased.

"I sincerely loved you in the past," he went on, daring to come a little closer, "very much. I loved everything about you."

"Loved!" Makoto snarled, and the thunder grew louder again.

Nephrite panicked.

"You were my princess, Makoto," he gasped, "there was never anyone else after you!"

"Was!" she shouted, "Were! You talk about me like I'm dead!"

Nephrite was completely confused.

"Not at all, darling," he soothed, "I can see you're very much alive and no one could be happier about that than me."

"You left me alone!" Mako sobbed, "You didn't even remember me when you met me again! Am I not enough of a princess for you now? Is that it!?"

"Sweetheart!" He cried, "Of course you are. You will always be my princess."

"Really?" she sniffed, "Then why are you leaving? Why are you going to go back to being a stupid rock!?"

Nephrite nearly tripped but caught himself on a low tree branch.

"I just don't understand," she sighed, and her shoulders slumped in a defeated manner, "Why do I always have to be alone?"

The last part was whispered so softly that he barely heard it. He took an involuntary step toward her.

They both gasped as the skies opened up and it started to rain. He knew they ought to go inside, but neither one of them felt like moving at the moment.

"Mako, there is nothing I would rather do," he murmured, "than stay with you..."

"Then why don't you?" she asked.

She gazed at him, the rain making rivulets down her pale face. Her large green eyes looked like a child's eyes; it reminded him of the first time he'd ever seen her. He'd been struck then at the odd beauty of such innocent eyes in such a womanly face.

He sighed. This was the moment and he knew it. If he went to her now...

"This is a hard decision for all of us," he said, at last, "I don't think it will be made lightly when the time comes."

"But I promise you, one way or another," he added, reaching out a hand to take hers, "I won't leave you alone again."

* * *

"You really are set against this, aren't you?" Mina asked.

Kunzite shrugged and continued to look at the pale grey sky as the rain poured down.

"Yes, I am against this, and if two you don't -"

"Artemis, for the last time," Mina snapped, "shut up!"

They heard a thudding and hissing from the computer speakers and then a choking sound, as if someone was coughing up a hairball.

Mina sighed and flicked the laptop's lid down, blocking out some of the noise.

"Kunzite," she said after a moment, "Look at me, please."

He turned slowly to face her, his features making a complete and impenetrable mask.

"Why must you be so stubborn?" she murmured.

"I might ask you the same thing."

She crossed her arms.

"I know what you're planning to do," she said, "And I know why you think it's necessary."

"Then I should think this conversation isn't necessary."

"You're right," she laughed, "it isn't. Stop trying to punish yourself for something that wasn't your fault."

"How do you know -"

"Because I remember it too!" she snapped, her tone sharp for the first time.

"Don't you think that I feel guilty for what I did?" She demanded, staring him down.

His perfect mask faltered for the first time - just slightly.

"Minako, I don't blame you -" he began.

"And I don't blame you!" she cried.

"So can we just forget all of this and be happy?"

He sighed, his eyes hardening against the pull of hers.

"If it were that easy," he muttered, "but it isn't. It isn't just the Silver Millennium that I have to atone for, Minako. Don't forget that we actually fought each other in the present age."

"I haven't forgotten it, and yet, strangely enough, I really don't think it's important enough to get in the way of you and me."

"Kunzite," she whispered, drawing closer, "we were meant to be together. I know you don't believe in fate, but even you can't deny that there is something in you that is directly tied to me. I knew it the first day we met - the first time I saw you when I rounded that corner. You were off guard and you showed me your real self and ever since that moment I have been trying as hard as I know how to find you again."

"Mina, you aren't making any sense," he answered, softly, "You always see things in a romantic light - it's your nature."

"You think you know me so well," she retorted, anger flashing in her blue eyes, "but you don't even know yourself. Why are you pretending you don't love me?"

He flinched slightly and clenched his hands behind his back, willing himself to maintain control.

"If you don't love me," she said, softly, "then why were you still carrying my mark?"

He remained silent and she took another step toward him.

"Why did you go back to save me in the hallway?"

He swallowed, trying to retreat from the whirlpool of her eyes - but Mina's pull was inescapable.

"Why," she asked, as they stood face to face, "did you kiss me?"

They stared at one another, matching will against will.

"You've always done your best to take care of me," she said, gently brushing his hair out of his eyes, "why don't you let me do the same for you?"

He let out a long breath and she smiled, leaning closer.

"For once in your life," she murmured, standing on tip toes as her breath stirred against his cheek, "just trust me and let go."

Kunzite felt his head incline toward her of its own volition. Mina closed her eyes at the same time that he felt his own closing and he could feel her hand slip around his shoulder.

He'd strayed into a dream, he realized - everything he had held in for so long - all the emotions and yearnings that he'd never even realized he possessed - all were threatening to break past the barrier of his self control at last.

He knew if he moved one more centimeter he would be lost. With perhaps the most supreme effort of will he had ever had to exercise he forced himself to pull away from her.

Mina's eyes fluttered open as she felt him move and she looked at him with reproach and worry. But he didn't give her timeto form a single word.

Instead his gaze locked on to her eyes, his steel gray irises hypnotizing her as he moved in closer to her face, excruciatingly slowly. Mina felt completely trapped, her body refused to move and her brain refused to think. At the last second he slipped his lips to the side of her face, just grazing her cheek and she felt her breath catch in her throat. His lips tickled her ear as he whispered:

"I'll think about it."

Before she had time to let out the breath she'd been holding he was out the door. If she hadn't known better she could have sworn he'd been smiling as he left.

Mina stood completely still for a long moment. She had the oddest urge to either hit something or to laugh uncontrollably and she couldn't decide which impulse to gratify first.

"Mina?" a voice came from Mamoru's computer.

"Mina? Are you alright?"

"Yes, Artemis," she sighed, opening the laptop to see the white cat's anxious nose plastered to the screen of his own computer.

"I'm fine."

"Did the - did Kunzite leave?" he asked, sourly.

"Yes, he did."

"Well, it's about time."

Mina shook her head.

_Why, of all the men in the world...why did it have to be those two?_

* * *

Mamoru yawned and shivered slightly in the early morning chill. The sun was barely over the horizon and the air outside was a bit cool from the unseasonable down pour during the previous evening. Beside him Usagi, already transformed into Sailor Moon, was clutching his sleeve and swaying on her feet - trying to wake up. He restrained a smile as her head drooped forward. 

"Well, it looks like Haruka and Michiru won't be too happy," he murmured, "I don't think anyone won the bet...yet."

"What's that, Mamo-chan?" Usagi muttered, jerking her head upright.

"Nothing."

Four men in uniforms approached the two from the side of the large house.

"Good morning," he called.

"Good morning, sire," Nephrite said as he and the others came to stand beside Mamoru and Usagi.

"Everything is ready," Kunzite remarked, "we may depart as soon as you wish."

Mamoru nodded, feeling a strange excitement fluttering in his stomach. Finally, he felt, the past was starting to be put right. He hadn't heard much from Haurka or Michiru, but it didn't seem that the Senshi and Shitennou had made much progress yesterday. Judging from their rather grim and determined faces, it was slow going at best. But he hoped that putting the Golden Kingdom back to rights would provide some sort of incentive for them to clear up the rest of the past.

"Does everyone know the location we'll be teleporting to?"

"Yes, sire," Jadeite said, "If you'd like one of us can take Usagi-hime, since this is your first time teleporting."

Mamoru shook his head and caught her by the shoulders as she started to lean forward.

"I think we'll be fine, thank you."

Jadeite smiled at the sleepy queen.

"Did you all make your goodbyes?" Mamoru asked, rather pointedly.

Nephrite and Kunzite frowned and nodded. But Zoisite actually chuckled as he yawned.

"I'd say so," he remarked.

To Mamoru's surprise Jadeite had a very interesting smirk on his face.

_Maybe they're coming along better than I thought._

He sighed and took a firm grip on Usagi's shoulders.

"Are you ready to go, my love?" he whispered.

She popped her eyes open and nodded.

"Alright, then. Let's go."

With a slight shower of petals from the nearby cherry tree all six people disappeared into the morning sun.


	18. Trapped

The Dreamer's Kingdom

**Trapped (Chapter 17)**

* * *

It was the silvery voice, like a chiming bell, that woke her from her drowsy stupor. She hadn't exactly been dreaming, she couldn't dream, but her mind had been wrapped in the saffron fabric of her lazy, greedy desires and plans. Always, since her creation - an event which she remembered nothing of - she remembered the longing for power. The insatiable longing that filled her was centered on the desire for control, and the intense longing to upset order. To be both controlling and uncontrolled. It was her nature, and the pale silver moth was all that stood between her and her destiny. 

And now _She _was here, in the ruined heart of the world that _She _desired so much to protect. Though the reasons behind her eternal opponent's liking for the nondescript, failure of a planet had never ceased to confuse her, that simple desire was one she longed to frustrate. She had been the means of nearly decimating that world many times - yet it's heart beat faintly still. Soon she would smother it.

The tinkling, like jangling silver, grew louder - the warmth of that familiar, scorching glow grew warmer. She hissed involuntarily and drew her miasma of a self inward like a shadowy jellyfish.

There were others with _Her_ this time. The golden glow of the man who was always in the way, always between herself and the Light, pulsed faintly in the darkness of her awareness. Her insides ached with hunger; she wanted to devour him and all the lights that accompanied him, anything that was dear to the Light, she wanted to destroy.

Hate roiled in her, beating her anger into rage. Her glowing red eyes opened wide.

There were four others, the four she'd tasted before, when _She_ had trapped her inside her own nest. But now she was stronger, she was no longer a shadow of herself - she was becoming whole.

These four stars...so like the young lives she'd taken and used to serve her never changing purpose...could these also be turned?

Suddenly the cavern of the ruined lower levels rumbled. She was chuckling.

These stars had already been turned - she recognized them! Powerful beings she'd used twice through that greatest of her pawns - and the easiest to manipulate - the Fool, Beryl. She could turn them again, surely? They were weak. The strange light that always glowed in a protective aura around _Her_ did not encase their hearts, she remembered quite well. Without it they were as helpless as infants. She smiled in the darkness and settled down to wait.

* * *

"What was that?" Sailor Moon asked nervously. 

Mamoru tightened his grip on her hand and looked inquiringly at Kunzite.

The taller man shrugged slightly.

"I feel something sinister," Jadeite murmured, tuning his face into the strange wind that was blowing faintly from the depths of the dilapidated hallway.

"Hm," Zoisite squinted at Mercury's borrowed computer:

"It would appear that something is definitely trapped in the lowest dungeon - and it certainly isn't friendly."

Nephrite grimaced and took a more protective stance beside the king.

"Let's continue," Kunzite remarked, unhurriedly, and marched resolutely into the gathering darkness.

* * *

"What's wrong, Rei?" 

Minako had been staring at Rei for about as long as Rei had been staring at the stack of papers in front of her - which was to say, about seven minutes.

Rei blinked.

"I'm not sure," she replied, slowly, "I just have this feeling that we shouldn't be here..."

"What?" Ami asked quietly, entering from the hallway into the conference room.

Rei greeted Ami's somber glance with a dismal one of her own.

"Our place is here," Mina remarked, carefully, "but I can't help feeling the same way."

The three stood in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

"If - when - they come back," Ami began, but stopped abruptly and glanced at the other two with a rather lost look on her face.

"You think..?" Mina began calmly.

Ami nodded and sank into a chair, resting her head in her hand. It was the first time they'd mentioned it aloud.

"What about you, Rei?" Mina continued, "Do you see anything?"

Rei remained silent for quite a while before she finally raised her head, and when she did her eyes were dark and troubled.

"I don't see clearly at all. The future is covered in a haze of possibilities.But I feel that something grave will happen if we aren't with them soon. If they are gone too long without us..."

"Or if we go too long without them." Mina added, wryly. She shifted her stack of papers and sighed, leaning against the table.

"To think that we finally found them, after so much trouble and heartache, and now we're going to lose them again."

"Don't say that," Ami interjected, harshly. The other two turned to her in surprise; her face was pale and her eyes were drowning.

"Don't say that," she murmured, "I don't think I can bear it."

Makoto entered at that moment looking uncharacteristically harried.

"I swear, it's like the thunder cloud from hell has opened up on my parade!" she exclaimed, then stopped as she saw that they were paying her no attention.

"Ami, what's wrong?" she asked, surprised to find that the smaller girl was crying harder than she'd ever seen her cry.

"She's alright," Mina began, "she's just worried -"

"I'm not alright!"

All three took an involuntary step back at Ami's outburst. Not bothering to wipe her eyes any more, Ami let the tears run down her face indifferently - she pushed her bangs out of her eyes and faced them all.

"I don't know what happened in the past exactly or if it matters," she said thickly, "I don't understand my own feelings. I don't have an idea what to do about any of it. But if he doesn't come back this time I - I -"

"Believe me, we all know how you feel."

Mina put her arm around Ami and the others approached them to lend a comforting hand.

They gazed at one another in sudden comprehension.

"So that's the way it is," Mina murmured, smiling slightly, "I thought so."

Rei blushed, Ami continued to sob, and Makoto merely looked grim and somewhat self-conscious.

"Then we should do something about it," she spoke up, "Instead of sitting around here, doing nothing."

"We're running the country, that's not exactly doing nothing," Rei answered, dryly.

"Country be damned!"

The taller girl stood, planting her hands on her hips.

"Every instinct I have tells me that we should be down there with them! That's what Ami's upset about, isn't it?"

"I know," Mina interrupted, soothing everyone with the authority of her voice, "but we have to look at our responsibilities as well -"

"You were the one who started all this!" Mako exclaimed, to Mina's bewilderment.

"You remembered the past, and now we do too and just look at all of us," Mako continued, tears coming into her eyes, "we're all basket cases."

Mina smiled wryly and caught Rei's eye.

"I know we have a duty," the older girl said, quietly, "I won't abandon it, but - if something happens to them, I think it will be very bad for all of us."

Mina sighed and took a moment to survey the room. Ami had quieted down and, though she was still very pale, she was calm - Mako was trying to stifle her emotions and not being at all successful - and Rei stared at nothing yet again.

_What would the Princess of Venus have done?_ - she wondered, idly.

"Alright," she said finally, standing up. They all turned to look at her, respectfully.

"I hoped we'd be able to make this decision with a bit more decorum," she said, "but there seems to be no help for it. Right, then."

They watched as she walked briskly to the table and clicked a few keys on the laptop.

"Mina! Is everything alright?" A male voice asked, worriedly.

Mina rolled her eyes.

"Actually, no, Artemis. Or rather, everything is as it always is - which is to say, we find ourselves in a quandary."

"Why do you sound so formal all of a sudden?"

"Never mind," Mina quipped, "Is it possible for you and Luna to come run the country for an hour or so?"

"What!?"

"Just a few hours," Mina continued, ignoring Artemis' frenzied noises, "there's something we need to take care of."

"Now, wait just a minute -"

"Artemis, we don't have time!" Mako pleaded, frantically, "Just come, please!"

"Well," Artemis' voice sounded harried, "what's wrong? Why do you need us to come right now?"

"We think the others may be in danger," Rei answered, smoothly.

"Danger!?" Artemis scoffed, nervously, "but they have the Shit Quartet -"

"Artemis!" Mina's suddenly outraged tone of warning silenced everyone in the room.

"The - ah - what I meant to say was -"

"Shitennou," Mina supplied, icily.

"Y-yes," Artemis's voice quavered, "Yes, they should be able to protect the King and Queen."

"We don't know that for certain," Ami chimed in, "it is probable, but they haven't used their powers in sometime, and their memories are spotty at best. Also, if the shadow has somehow grown in the time we have been gone, it could very well -"

"Alright, alright, but you knew all of this before you let them go. So why -"

"I've had a vision, Artemis," Rei broke in, and the others turned to her in dismay.

"They are definitely in danger if we don't go to them now."

There was silence, in which they watched the little figure of a white cat on the screen flick its tail back and forth, uncertainly.

"Alright," he said, finally, "we'll be there as soon as we can."

"Thanks!" Mina chirped, "You're a doll!"

Artemis grumbled something unintelligible and left the range of the camera.

Mako turned to Rei and asked, somberly, "What did you see?"

Rei looked at her blankly for a moment, then let out a short laugh.

"Oh, nothing," she answered, "I just said that so he'd hurry. Artemis is the most indecisive of men."

They looked at her in astonishment, while Mina smiled.

"That's why I love you," she purred and embraced Rei warmly.

Rei cleared her throat and gave Mina a little shove.

"I think we'd better get ready." she suggested.

"Good," Ami sighed and left to make her own preparations, her face looking hopeful for the first time.

"I hope we're doing the right thing," Mina muttered to herself on her way out.

"We are," Mako rejoined, cheerfully, "and even if we aren't, at least we'll get to do some fighting instead of sitting around in offices worrying all day long. Senshi weren't made to do that kind of stuff."

"_Some_ Senshi," Mina added.

Rei chuckled, but her eyes remained dark with worry. She had had no visions, but her feelings were enough to tell her that they must be reunited as fast as possible. She hoped against hope they would be in time.

"Hurry, Artemis," she murmured under her breath.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Zoisite asked. 

The others paused at the ruined threshold of the dungeon. They had spent the last half hour removing the cluttered debris carefully from the doorway, not wanting to start another avalanche of rock.

The sudden rumble startled them.

"I think it's just the caverns settling," Nephrite suggested, "there doesn't seem to be anything left in the room."

They peered through the gap in the stone.

"Nothing we can see," Jadeite murmured, his flashing eyes scanned the room again and again, trying to find the evil presence he felt.

"Are you ready?" Mamoru asked Sailor Moon.

She took a tighter grip on her rod and nodded.

Kunzite motioned for them to remain behind him as he made the first move into the room.

It was very different from when they'd last left it. The high ceiling had a wide hole which opened into darkness above. Two of the walls had completely collapsed in on each other at the corners and created a mound of dirt and grime. There were large chunks of rock everywhere, and a dank, sour smell wafted through the air in the permeating, black fog.

"That this place could ever have been the heart of the Earth seems impossible, sire," Zoisite whispered in awe.

"It's difficult for me to believe as well," Mamoru answered, "but if there is even the slightest chance that it can be restored, we must take it."

Kunzite and the others nodded and proceeded carefully into the room. Kunzite formed an energy shield around them all, but it would not keep out such mundane things as falling rocks and dust. A pebble hit Jadeite on the head and he gave out an involuntary yelp. Something rumbled faintly, as though it were an echo.

"There's something here," Sailor Moon whimpered, "I know it."

"We'll banish it then," Mamoru promised, "but first let's find the quartet."

They set about looking for the bodies of the ill-fated Solar Quartet - splitting up into pairs for the task, but never getting out of sight of the others.

Jadeite and Nephrite found Vulcan and dragged the young man's corpse toward the center of the room. Zoisite and Kunzite found the twins lying not far from each other and carried them back to the center as well. They set out together to find Apollo, going deeper into the darkness of the fog in search of him.

"Why don't you start with them," Mamoru suggested, carefully trying to keep Sailor Moon from looking directly at the dead men. But, with a sudden firmness, she removed his hands from her shoulders and turned to look down at them, unflinchingly. She looked over their young faces, younger looking now that hate no longer animated their features. When her eyes fell on Vulcan she faltered; he was the same age as her younger brother.

"Chaos has caused so much heartache," she whispered, brandishing the rod gracefully; "I wish I could put everything right, but maybe this will be a start."

The rod glowed and for the moment the shadows retreated to the farthest corners of their gloomy haunt, the three figures in front of her shimmered as well. The light grew brighter, and Mamoru had to shield his eyes - he could hear Usagi murmuring something but he couldn't make out what she was saying.

There was a sudden burst of light and the room was filled with it for a moment, then the darkness came back almost immediately. Sailor Moon panted but stood upright, staring at the ground where the three men had been.

"You're growing stronger, my love," Mamoru murmured, smiling, "How do you feel?"

For a moment, in the glow of the light, they had become their past selves once more. She turned to smile at him and opened her mouth to answer when a sudden shout made them look away into the darkness.

Jadeite and Nephrite were running back toward them, and suddenly Kunzite materialized beside them carrying Zoisite.

"What happened?" Mamoru demanded, noting that Zoisite was paler and breathing very heavily. When he removed his hand from his side there was quite a bit of blood around his abdomen.

"As far as I can tell, Apollo wasn't quite dead." Kunzite offered, stoically.

"What?!" Sailor Moon screeched.

A chuck of rock hurtled out of the midnight sea in front of them in answer. She felt two people nearly sit on top of her as it went hurtling over her head.

"It's Chaos," Zoisite gasped, "it's - she's - still using his body!"

"Damn it," Sailor Moon growled, to the men's surprise.

"I've had it!" She yelled, pushing herself off the ground.

"You've hurt enough people!" She bellowed into the darkness, "I will not stand for it any longer!"

As she spoke her fuku began to glow and shimmer, the outline of a much longer dress wavered over it like a ghostly shadow.

A deep rumbling laugh came from the blackness. A figure made of shadow with glowing red eyes suddenly materialized some twenty feet away from them, and beside it - hanging limply like a puppet - was Apollo's empty body.

"I do not care," a voice said, like grating metal, "I will have my revenge and then I will have my freedom. And your servants will give it to me. I have stood your tyranny long enough."

"What the hell -" Nephrite began but his remark was cut off as he and the other three Shitennou were enveloped in a mass of black shadow, like a wave lapping up shells.

Before anyone could speak all four of the Shitennou disappeared within the cloud of Chaos' intangible body - their cries were muffled and their figures blurred.

"No!" Mamoru shouted, and transformed into his royal alter-ego in less than a second - embracing the full power of his crystal.

"Let them go!" He and Moon commanded.

Chaos merely laughed and her scarlet eyes, like two coals, seemed to grow larger as she loomed over them.

"They are mine, body and soul. They belong to me."

"They belong to themselves!" Sailor Moon, now Serenity, drew her rod up in front of her and prepared to confine Chaos, but Endymion put a hand on her arm.

"We have to save them," she gasped.

"We can't," he said.

"Wha-"

"Serenity," he placed his arm on her shoulder and turned her to face him so that she could see the pain and doubt in his eyes.

"If we trap Chaos now then the Shitennou will be trapped as well."

"But..." her answer died on her lips as she suddenly understood the import of his words.

"What can we do?" she whispered, looking into the black, hopeless mass of darkness.

He took her hand. Together they began to glow, sending Chaos reeling backward toward the safety of the darkened room. But their light only drove her away, creating a barrier of protecting light between them and Chaos. Uncertain, they waited.

* * *

"That always makes me dizzy," Mercury remarked as she wobbled unsteadily after their transport. 

Mars gave her a supporting hand under her elbow and then all four of them began shivering at once.

"It's cold!" Jupiter yelped.

The arctic wind stung fiercely at every uncovered bit of skin. If they hadn't been Senshi they would have been in danger of losing quite a few appendages between them to frostbite.

"We could really use that boyfriend of yours right now," she continued, flapping her arms up and down to stay warm.

Ami was too cold to blush, or too preoccupied.

"Find it quickly," Venus commanded.

Fortunately they had teleported almost within three feet of the hole, which had been protected from the covering of snowfall by a slight boulder.

"Should we let the cats know we're going in?" Mars asked through chattering teeth.

"Later!" Venus commanded, pushing them all through the entrance as quickly as possible. As soon as they entered the Dark Kingdom the howling wind stopped, only to be replaced by the sickly breeze that blew from the lower chambers.

"I almost prefer the ice and snow," Jupiter commented, disgusted at the filth and degraded state of the hallway.

"Me too," Mars murmured.

"I think they've probably reached the lower dungeon by now, they had nearly half a day's lead on us."

Venus nodded at Mercury's calculations.

"Everyone stay close."

* * *

The blackness that enveloped Jadeite seemed endless and oppressive - more tangible than fog, suffocating, and yet intangible when he tried to bat it away. His heart was racing harder than if he'd just finished a marathon, panic was threatening to overwhelm him. 

He knew the all too familiar pulse of dark energy - the kind of negative force that sucked in everything like a gaping black hole. And what was worse, he, who was so sensitive to other's minds, was now most susceptible to her's.

_My servant..._ came the hissing voice into his mind - he barely controlled the urge to vomit.

_I'm not your servant - I never will be again! _- He forced up every barrier his mind could create against the infiltrating voice, and then sent out tendrils to the others.

_Jade?_ He heard Nephrite's mind answer his own. Their powers were almost completely restored now, but the overwhelming darkness was impenetrable, if they couldn't escape it then all the powers in the world would be of no use in protecting the King and Queen.

_Neph, I'm here. Don't listen to her, no matter what she says - or tries - _

_You don't have to tell me! _His friend's mind broke in, - _I know! We can get out of this, can't we?_

_I don't know, - _Jadeite admitted.

_We **will** get out of this..._He heard Nephrite's determination, and could see the picture of green eyes. It confused him for a moment, until he realized what his friend was focusing on.

_Perhaps..._he wondered, but his thoughts were interrupted by a wondering groan in his mind.

_Jadeite?_ He heard Zoisite's voice call faintly.

_Do you know where we are?_

_I think we're inside her - it - _Jadeite replied, _we seem to be trapped. I think...I think she's going to try to use us again._

_She won't use me again, _Zoisite assured him, but Jadeite could hear the strain even in Zoisite's mind. His injury needed attention and there was the danger that if he passed out from the stress, Chaos would take advantage of his weakened will.

_Jadeite,_ the calm, determined voice of his commander echoed across his mind like a warm wind.

_Sir?_

_It is true that we are trapped within Chaos?_

_Yes, sir. As far as I can tell..._

_Is there any way of exiting swiftly or of destroying the..thing?_

_No, sir,_ - Jadeite tried to keep the seeping hopelessness out of his mind - _We can't defeat it without the Princess._

The four minds were silent, Jadeite felt the barriers he'd constructed wobbling as feelings of despair grew stronger in each of them, even Kunzite.

_Why hasn't the Princess trapped Chaos already? _Kunzite wondered.

Jadeite mentally blinked.

_I...don't know, Sir. Unless Chaos is attacking her, but I don't think - _

_If she does trap Chaos, _Nephrite interrupted, _will we be trapped as well? _

_We'll be trapped forever inside here_ - Zoisite thought (not hearing either of Nephrite's or Kunzite's part of the conversation, since only Jadeite possessed telepathy) - _if the Princess decides to trap Chaos and cut her off from this world. _

_Perhaps Chaos is waiting to turn us._ - Nephrite suggested, _That's why she hasn't attacked._

Jadeite hushed all of their minds with his own, then reached out to inform Kunzite of the whole of their conversations.

_I understand..._the leader confirmed after he'd learned all of it,_ If that is the case, then we must remain here and distract Chaos for as long as possible until the Princess can seal her away from our world._

Jadeite grimly relayed this order to the other two.

_But we'll be..._Nephrite's voice wavered, then grew silent. They left unsaid the thought that Chaos's exile was now synonymous with their own.

_I understand..._- Zoisite's thin voice was steady, if weak.

_I cannot communicate with Endymion or the Princess, -_ Jadeite mentioned to them all - _But I hope he will understand. _

_Let's give them as much time as we can,_ - Zoisite murmured.

_Well, no time to waste - _Nephrite's voice echoed, but Jadeite could feel the anguish his friend was holding in check - and could tell by the utter lack of levity in his usual bantering tone that Nephrite had made his decision and was now ready to face an eternity locked away with their most hated enemy. Jadeite didn't feel so resolute, but he knew what the right decision was and he would follow it.

Suddenly he felt the creeping despair burst through his mind like a river through a dam - feelings of fear, jealousy, insecurity, loneliness and hate flooded through his mind and threatened to drown him. He held onto the one thing he could remember - which was a pair of violet eyes when they had looked at him so trustingly just yesterday. If he could remember her, he would remember who he was long enough for the Princess to complete their mission. After that, he knew, he preferred to remember nothing at all.

* * *


	19. Into the Dark

**The Dreamer's Kingdom**

**(Chapter 18) - Into the Dark**

A quick note for this chapter:

Tsuji Yukio - Zoisiste

Nakamura Takeshi - Nephrite

Kentaro Kane/Lord Anchises - Kunzite

Jokudo Hideaki/Lord Rhadamanthus - Jadeite

"If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks, I will follow you..." - Death Cab for Cutie

* * *

"Tsuji Yukio!" 

It was his mother's voice, soft and pleading and muffled as a dove's. He opened unwilling eyes to see her own startled blue eyes gazing down at him in dismay.

"Yukio," she whispered, her face was pale and drawn - much more careworn than he'd remembered it. She'd once been an exquisitely beautiful woman with a delicate figure and complexion, but years of trying to support a family on a single income had taken their toll on her. She stooped, her delicate neck drooping like the stem of a wilting flower - her eyes were large and sad and as frightened as a child's.

"Yukio, how did you ever end up here?" she asked. He could hear from the soft roughness of her voice that she'd been crying.

"Where am I?" he asked, or tried to. There was a dull, burning pain in his stomach, and his hands felt cold and wet.

"I just don't understand it," she said, shaking her head. Her curly brown hair swished across her forehead - showing the gray that crept through it.

"You were always such a good child," she continued, not hearing him, "your grades, your future was so bright, and then - you do this - I can't understand it at all, Yuki."

"What!?" he wanted to scream.

"What did I do to make you this way?"

He racked his muddled brain for the solution. The last thing he remembered was walking out the door of their apartment on his way to school. He'd been going to the university for his final semester of undergraduate work.

He'd been walking down the street, almost to the gates of the university - and then there was a woman - or was it a man? He couldn't remember, but someone had stopped him in his tracks - just by saying a word. One very simple word, but he couldn't for the life of him remember it.

He looked up to find his mother crying, her face was paler and even more pinched - she looked as though she'd aged ten years in the brief moment he'd been lost in thought.

"Stop," he pleaded, "please don't, mom. I'm sorry for whatever I did."

But she only cried harder. It was like a nightmare.

"Whatever it was," he soothed, "I'll figure out how to make it right, mom. I promise. Just don't cry."

His mother turned swollen red eyes to him and he reached out to wipe her tears away but she suddenly recoiled from him as if he'd been about to slap her. Her eyes were confused, fearful and angry.

"How could you do this to me, Yuki?"

"What!?"

"How could you be so selfish? You always have thought only of yourself, never about me. Look at me, Yuki," she held out hands so thin they looked like dried bone.

"It's because of you that I've become like this - working everyday to make enough for you to go to the schools you wanted, wear the clothes you wanted, everything was always for you!"

"No, mom," he whispered, his eyes wide with horror and dismay.

"Yes!" she shouted, his timid mother was suddenly transformed into a raging gorgon.

"Yes, it was your fault. And then look at what you did to me. You have killed me, Yukio. My blood is on your hands. Look!"

She pointed to his hands lying on his stomach and slowly he pulled them up to his face. Against the pallor of his skin blood shone dark and red - covering him up to his wrists.

"M-mom?" he breathed, feeling his throat close up. He felt hot and fevered, he knew he was close to shock. His vision began to blur as he heard a pounding in his head and a familiar voice whispering a name that wasn't his, but at the same time it was. The name it called over and over again was said with a ring of authority, with a dreadful possessiveness. He couldn't block it out anymore. It was his fault - his mother's life had been ruined because of his selfishness. And the faces of the people he'd killed swam into his mind in a torrent. Despair filled him until his body mercifully gave up the fight.

* * *

"Nakamura-san." 

Takeshi blinked away the haze that clouded his vision.

The low, sultry voice had called his name in a playful tone.

It was the blonde, the one with the honey-brown hair - the instructor his parents had hired to teach him to play tennis. She was smiling at him with that lazy self-confidence that always caught him off guard.

"You aren't paying attention. Your parents' won't get their money's worth if you keep this up."

"I'm sorry, Sensei."

He shook his head - it seemed that in the heat if he were to allow his attention to wander for even a moment, he would succumb to the powerful urge to fall asleep. The day was hot, bright - humid.

He heard footsteps and raked his hair out of his face to see his tennis instructor approaching him, smiling indolently.

"Nakamura-san, do you know that the tennis court, while it is a game, is actually set up much like a battle-field?"

He shook his head. Something about it all seemed so familiar - like he'd heard it before. Was it dejavu?

"Oh, yes. A battle field, you see," his instructor went on, her mellow voice lulling him with the oppressive heat. Were her eyes really brown, or were they orange?

"This raquet is your weapon," she said, holding up her own to point it at him as if it were a sword.

"With the weapon you advance, retreat, parry, and thrust," she suited each of her words to the appropriate action.

With a sudden lunge she caught him off guard and hit him squarely in the chest with the rim of the racket. It barely hurt him at all, but it startled him awake enough to notice that her hair was closer to red than blonde. Perhaps it was the glare of the sun in his eyes.

"You are an excellent soldier, Takeshi. Aren't you?" she asked.

He nodded, feeling oddly formal and obeyed the urge to stand up straighter.

"Yes, you are the best soldier but one. And you are wise, aren't you? You understand people's emotions. When you understand the emotions of others, it becomes easier to manipulate them."

It all made sense to him, he realized - though why he was growing so fuzzy headed he couldn't tell.

"You've been alone most of your life, but you've learned to understand other people by watching them."

"Take that girl for instance," she said, pointing toward a figure in the far distance. He squinted his eyes to see the speck on the horizon.

"I'm sorry, Sensei, I don't quite -"

"You will see her soon," his teacher snapped, "and when you do I want you to prove to me what a good soldier you are. I want you to engage her in battle, I want you to destroy her. Do you understand?"

He knew something was wrong, but her words seemed so persuasive. He had to prove himself. He had to show her he was capable. No one could question his strength or skill - she had to know that he was the best. He was the best - he was always the best. The most capable, the most qualified - the strongest. This was his hour to prove himself worthy of her love and attention. Of someone's love and attention. He felt his pulse quicken sickeningly.

"Do you understand, Nephrite?"

"Yes, my queen." he found himself saying, but was only mildly surprised by the words.

"Excellent." The woman with the glowing eyes and red hair smiled as the figure in the distance came closer. Nakamura readied himself for attacking.

* * *

"Anchises!" 

He straightened his sore shoulders. He was ten years old and his father was watching the battered old knight give his son a good beating.

He felt a drop of sweat roll off his forehead and fall to mix with the dust of the training ground. Despite the dirt, the heat and the unbearable physical strain, this form of exercise was enjoyable to him - in the deepest corner of his mind, reserved only for his quietest and most private thoughts, Anchises took time to savor the feeling of the wind on the nape of his neck and began to carefully organize his next form of attack. Calm, rational, mature, reasoning - these were the only emotions and attitudes that could hope to prevail in combat.

He squared off against his opponent once more - the fifty-year old man in armor hefted his light weight sword easily, gripping it steadily. Anchises mimicked him, his smaller wrist already well muscled from hours of practice.

He feinted left and the knight parried his right thrust, he then rolled to attack from behind -using his smaller stature and speed to his advantage. But the knight caught the tip of his booted foot and tripped him up.

Anchises waited fearlessly, passionlessly, calmly for the chastising blow. No emotions of bitterness, disappointment or anger could assail his inner calm. In the deepest part of himself he was always at peace. Emotions had never been his weakness.

Something tugged at that peace - longed to rip it open and break it apart, but it failed. Suddenly, as the blow descended, Anchises was no longer ten years old, and no longer Anchises.

The sky shifted to a pale, sickly winter color - his armor became an overcoat, a suit, a tie. His long hair was shorter, the sword in his hand became a school satchel.

"Kentaro-san, I suppose you've heard?"

He looked down at the teacher. Even as a young man in high school he already towered over nearly all of the students and most of the teachers.

"No, Sensei, heard what?"

The small, rotund teacher pulled his coat closer around him and fidgeted nervously with the buttons on the lapel.

"It's about your parents," he began, his nervous, pig-like voice quavering slightly in the cold, "they've decided to withdraw you from the school."

He merely nodded in response. It was something he'd been expecting. Since his father was an officer in the army their family moved about quite a bit. With his solitary temperament and habits, Kentaro Kane had no need for friends and was ideally suited to the traveling lifestyle.

There was only one person he knew he would be sorry to say goodbye to and that was the little fellow who had followed him around so persistantly from the moment he'd arrived and whom he had taken a liking to. The young man's name was Tsuji, and he was a good six years younger than Kane, but bright for his age. He hoped that Tsuji had learned how to take care of himself by this time. There would soon be nothing Kane could do about it.

Kane sighed and watched as his teacher, both surprised and relieved at this lack of emotion, nodded curtly and turned to waddle away.

"Such a shame you'll be leaving us, Kentaro."

He turned at the sound of the low, female voice and noticed one of the school officials was standing silently behind him. How she had managed to sneak up on him occupied his thoughts even as he replied in a steady voice:

"Yes, indeed."

"But you don't seem to mind," she added, with just a hint of amusement in her pale amber eyes.

"No," Kane answered truthfully.

"I'm used to it."

For some reason his common place remark made the woman chuckle. A soft but freezing wind rustled through the school yard.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

The question was unusual and caught him off guard, but he didn't let any surprise show on his face. He considered for only a moment before replying:

"A civil servant."

The woman seemed to find this answer as amusing as the first.

"You like protecting people, don't you, Kentaro?" she clarified, "You like to take responsibility for other people's lives."

He frowned slightly, his instincts communicating a vague feeling of unease. Still, he nodded politely.

"As you say, Sensei."

"As I say," she repeated softly, almost to herself.

He began to think of a polite, legitimate reason to leave.

"Oh, don't let me keep you," she said, her eyes still twinkling at him, "You must have a lot to do to prepare for your new move."

He bowed and moved to walk away but her voice caught him as he turned.

"You know, Kane," she mused, "there are many ways to serve the people. Acting as a general, as an organizer of men, is one way. Have you ever considered a military career, like your father's for instance?"

Kane frowned.

"I have," he answered, slowly, "but I think I prefer peace to war, Sensei."

"Sometimes war is necessary in order to protect those we...love." she replied, raising an eyebrow.

"True," he admitted, "but I believe war is only a last recourse. Good day, Sensei."

The school official smiled once more, and he noticed how her mouth, which was beautifully curved and full, was also somehow very predatory in its smile.

"Do you always keep your promises, Kane?"

He stopped once more, repressing any signs of impatience and turned to address her odd cat-and-mouse questions.

"I try, Sensei."

"You've never broken a promise?"

"I believe in the honor of a man's word."

"Interesting," she said, smiling again as a light crept into her eyes, "that's what I thought you'd say. In fact, that's what I remembered."

Having no clear idea of what she was talking about at this point, he felt the best approach was simply to bow again.

"Good day, Sensei," he reiterated politely and turned quickly on his heel.

"Good day, Kunzite."

The moment he heard the word he was a lost man.

* * *

"I know who you are!" Jadeite screamed hoarsely at the voices and visions tumbling around him. 

Already Chaos had assumed the form of his mother, trying to badger him into submitting to her will - forcing him to feel the humiliation and despair that characterized his childhood as a boy named Jokudo Hideaki.

But he'd seen through it, he'd battled his own treacherous emotions and memories and managed to beat her off.

Her next attack had been an attempt to insert herself into one of his memories of later childhood, at the point in which Beryl had entered his life. She couldn't create a false memory, but she could use Beryl's influence in his life to trick him into believing himself to be still bound to serve her through the power of his memories.

But this too he had successfully if marginally escaped. The dreadful pull of the vow, made thousands upon thousands of years ago seemed as fresh as though he had pledged it a few moments ago - that was the force of sense memory and emotional manipulation.

Now, her former attacks having failed, Chaos delved deeper into Jadeite's psyche, traveling through his life as Hideaki, through his former life as Endymion's adviser, Lord Rhadamanthus. She ripped through memories as though they were pieces of delicate silk - searching everywhere for the key to Jadeite's soul.

Finally, a soft flickering betrayed it.

"Weakness, always this weakness remains," he heard her murmur in her thousand voiced voice.

"It's no weakness," he whispered, knowing that she had at last found the way to defeat him, "it's the greatest strength I have."

"Let's put it to the test," she answered, suddenly, in Rei's voice.

He blinked, trying to will the apparition before him to disappear, knowing that she wasn't real, that she couldn't possibly be there. But he wanted so much for her to be there in corporeal form that his mind began to betray him.

"My dearest one," Rei said, her violet eyes glowing with a lovely warmth. She reached out a hand and touched his arm.

He hissed but didn't draw back. She felt real, her touch was genuine.

"Stay away," he meant to order, but it sounded more like a weak pleading.

"I want to help you," she said, "please let me. I know you're tired, you're exhausted. Just come here and let me hold you."

His soul was crying out to do just this, but he still attempted to pull himself back.

"It's not you," he cried, more to himself than to Rei's doppleganger.

"Don't be ridiculous," she smiled with the same quirk of the eyebrows he remembered very well.

"It is me, and you need me."

"Yes," he admitted.

She grasped his other arm but he didn't try to fend her off, he just stood rigidly.

"Trust me, then."

The pull of her eyes was overwhelming - he felt something inside him loosen as his conscious slipped away like wine out of a opened bottle.

"Forgive me," he whispered. But her eyes had already begun to glow red in his fading vision.

* * *

Four young women lept into the ruinious decay of the cavern ready to fight to the death. 

They came to an ungraceful halt, however, when they found themselves confronted not with the sight of five men and one woman fighting off pure evil, but instead the prince and princess standing side by side, gazing at the back corner of the cavern which was shrouded in darkness.

"Wh-what are you doing!?" Venus panted, looking around, wildly trying to sight the enemy.

"Where are the Shitennou?" Mercury demanded.

The prince and princess turned to face them slowly, their faces spoke volumes.

With a cry Jupiter sank to her knees.

"We're too late?" she gasped, disbelievingly, "They're gone?"

"No, no they're not dead," Mars interjected, "I still feel them."

Jupiter pushed herself up immediately and began to scan the room.

"What are you doing here?" Moon asked, suddenly.

"Not," she added, "that I'm not glad to see you, but shouldn't you be in Tokyo? Who's protecting the city?"

"Well, you see -" Venus began.

"We let Artemis and Luna handle it," Mars explained, walking quickly to the princess's side.

"More importantly, where is Endymion's guard?"

Moon blinked and looked at Mamoru.

"Well, you do look more like your older selves," Mars ventured, pointing at his armor and Usagi's dress.

"Oh, I didn't notice the change," the princess exclaimed, she craned her neck to get a good look at the gown.

"Beg your pardon, Usagi, but where are the Shitennou?" Mercury interrupted, her face pale and worried.

"We had a premonition that they needed our help," she added.

Usagi turned to Mamoru who replied gravely:

"Chaos captured them almost an hour ago. They're inside her now. We've been waiting here, hoping they would have the strength to break free, but it isn't looking very good. We were on the verge of sealing Chaos when you arrived."

"But if you seal her away now they'll be trapped with her!" Mercury cried.

"We know," Usagi countered, "We've thought of that, but -"

"It's their lives against the lives of the world, I know what they'd want us to pick."

Mamoru didn't add his thought that it might have been what they'd actually intended.

Jupiter blinked back angry tears.

"They wouldn't give up like that. They'd find a way to fight it." she argued.

"Surely there is something we can do." Venus murmured, staring at the black mass growing and pulsing in the darkness.

"I wish there were." Mamoru said, his eyes narrowed.

They watched in silence as the dark misama swelled larger within the cavern's confines, the glowing red eyes grew suddenly brighter.

"How much longer do you think you can wait before you must seal her off?" Venus asked, suddenly.

"We should have done it already," Mamoru answered, "but I don't know how much energy Usagi will have to use to force her into exile."

"I can wait a bit longer," Usagi stated, looking at Venus with a sudden understanding. Venus smiled at her princess with warm gratitude.

"Would you say five minutes?" she asked.

"Y-yes," Usagi answered.

Mars, who'd been watching their exchange with darknening eyes, frowned.

"Venus, if you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting..."

The golden headed girl turned to look at her, calmly.

"Then I'm all for it," Mars finished with a sigh.

"What's going on?" Jupiter whispered to Mercury.

"We're going to save the Shitennou," her friend whispered back.

Jupiter slammed one fist into the palm of the other.

"Well, it's about time," she murmured.

"But what if they get trapped as well," Mamoru argued, having just caught on to their unspoken plan, "we can't take that risk."

"I don't want them in danger anymore than you do," Usagi said, gently, "But this really is their decision. Not ours."

Mamoru opened his mouth to argue, but as he glanced at the senshi's set expressions he closed it.

"Please don't do anything reckless," he pleaded instead.

"Don't worry," Venus grinned, "we're always careful!"

"And we can take care of ourselves," Jupiter spoke up, "It's Chaos who ought to be worried."

"Indeed." Mercury said, a grim determination settled in her eyes.

_If she harms one hair on that curly head..._

"We'll be back, prince. I promise." Mars finished, "we would never leave the two of you alone."

"You better not!" Usagi cried.

The Senshi smiled and turned to face Chaos.

"However, princess," Venus added, calmly, as the four began to walk toward the back of the room, "if we aren't back in five minutes..."

"I understand," Usagi answered, softly.

Venus smiled.

"Ready, Senshi?" she called as they stood before the swollen black mass of darkness. Tendrils reached out to brush against their faces.

"Let's make this quick, then," she finished, and as one they stepped into the dark.

* * *

Usagi and Mamoru watched the Senshi vanish into the dark body of Chaos. 

"I understand why they're doing this," he began, "but I don't know how they hope to find the Shitennou inside her."

"That just goes to show that you don't understand anything, Mamo-chan," Usagi replied affectionately, though the worried crease on her brow didn't lift.

"They'll find them the same way I could find you if you were the one who was trapped instead of the Shitennou."

Mamoru turned to gaze at her.

"How did you get to be so wise, my love?" he asked and was gratified to see her smile slightly.

"You taught me." she replied, "Didn't you know that?"

He shook his head in amazement and turned back to look at Chaos, still growing - her voices howling inside of her.

"Have faith in them," she finished, taking his hand once more, "they'll find each other."

The two of them stood side by side and waited.

* * *

Note: Spell check isn't working, but I've given it a couple of reads and posted it anyway. If there's something glaringly obvious that I missed, please excuse it for the moment until I can give it a proper spell check. - FF 


	20. Face to Face

Chapter Nineteen - Face to Face

* * *

Jupiter had been running for what seemed like years. Her body was getting tired and her mind struggled to throw off the invading haze of her surroundings. 

The insides of Chaos seemed to be as vast as space, and just as impenetrable. She had made the mistake of looking down only once - not seeing anything beneath her feet had made her stomach flip uncomfortably - she had jerked her eyes up and now kept them firmly focused on what was in front of her.

"Nephrite!?" she called, wandering, oddly, if she would ever get the chance to call him by his real name - whatever it was.

The darkness surrounding her sucked up the sounds she made almost instantaneously.

She paused and rested her hands on her knees, bent over, panting, but still making sure not to look down.

If it were not for years of battles and excellent fighting instincts her head would have been summarily separated from her body by an evil looking sword that suddenly whistled through the air to thud into the ground mere centimeters away from her face.

She had dodged just in time, barely even since her hair was a bit shorter in the front. Already in a fighter's defensive stance and powering up her strongest attack she opened her eyes wide, blinking.

"You?" she asked incredulously and was just in time to hurl herself out of the way of another attack.

Her opponent smiled.

"Do I know you?" he asked, pleasantly.

Jupiter's face contorted in a mask of hurt and disbelief.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"Of course you know me! I came to rescue you!"

Nephrite eyed her in a puzzled manner, hefting his sword for another strike.

"What's wrong with you!?" Jupiter continued, flinging up a hand to protect herself, but unwilling to send an attack his way lest it hurt him.

"Nothing," he assured her, laughing and swinging the sword high.

She rolled out of the way but gasped as a shadow twisted in front of her to become a pair of hands holding her still in one place as Nephrite approached with his sword raised.

She stared in alarm at his face - it was still the same face she knew but it was twisted in expression - his smile had become a snarl, and his eyes were no longer mischievous but menacing. Something was very wrong, she realized.

"Did she turn them again?" Jupiter whispered to herself, "It couldn't happen. They said the bond was broken, the curse is gone."

"Nephrite!" she screamed as he pulled the sword back.

"You aren't bound to Chaos anymore!"

Her voice made him pause only slightly, a vague look of unease settled on his face. For a moment he almost seemed to recognize her, but then he shook his head.

"This won't hurt a bit," he said, and chuckled at his own humor.

* * *

By the time Mercury found him, he was already dead. 

She knelt beside him feeling for a pulse, but noting with a detached calm, that his lips were blue and his skin was bloodlessly pale. She listened harder than she'd ever listened to anything before, her cheek crushed into the material of his borrowed shirt.

She held her breath, almost willing her own heart to quiet itself so that she could hear his - no matter how slight it might be. But there was nothing.

Mercury stared at Zoisite's face, it was puckered slightly as if in pain, and she looked down to see the oozing wound in his abdomen, covered with dried blood and no longer bleeding.

"CPR," she whispered to herself, "clear the passageway, remove all obstructions, tilt the head back to open the airway - hold the nose, and with a firm pressure -"

She continued to mutter to herself, as she suited her actions to her words - she flinched when she felt something hot and wet on her cheek and realized she was crying.

She was surprised at how cold the air around her was, she could see her breath form crystals and her tears lost their heat almost immediately, leaving a cold trail down her face. As one of them fell she noted in surprise that it froze before it hit the ground.

"It's freezing," she murmured, her hand distractedly brushing his curly hair out of his face.

"Freezing," she repeated, suddenly looking at his blue lips with more attention.

She brought her hands together and rubbed them to create friction and warmth then placed them on Zoisite's face. He didn't stir, and still lay as lifelessly as before, but she thought she saw just a tiny splotch of color, though it might have been her imagination.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," a voice spoke calmly.

She looked up quickly, her heart pounding in dread, as she caught sight of the tall, caped man standing in front of her. He had a sword in his hand which he held with an expert grip. His face was almost entirely expressionless except for the faint hint of a sardonic smile.

"This isn't good," she muttered.

* * *

Mars opened her eyes calmly. 

"You knew I would come," she said, quietly.

A breeze, from seemingly nowhere, ruffled his hair as he stood before her with a sword in hand.

"Yes, and you knew I would be waiting," he answered.

She noted the lack of personality in his voice, the lack of emotion or passion of any kind. It confirmed her suspicion.

"Let him go," she commanded.

Jadeite's face looked puzzled.

"Let who go, Rei?" he asked, "I think it's time you came to grips with reality. Whatever happened between us is over. I choose Chaos, and that means, unless you want to join me, I'll destroy you without another thought."

"Not very tempting," she mused, wryly, but her violet eyes flashed with anger.

"I'll tell you one more time, Chaos," she spoke, still calm, "release him."

Jadeite's face seemed to waver, until it suddenly broke into a grin that wasn't his.

"What do you think you can do to me, Priestess?" Chaos's asked in Jadeite's voice.

"This is my willing servant, and it was through you that he became mine once more. You are all such fools," Jadeite spat, "the same weaknesses over and over again. I caught him through you before, you know. Really, it is too amusing."

Mars said nothing, but the air shimmered suddenly as her eyes grew warmer and warmer. The violet in them began to swirl, her hair began to twist into a flame of red and her suit began to grow longer, changed in form.

"You tricked me once," she said in a quiet voice, as the air around her shivered with heat, "but I won't let you do it again."

"Do you think, simply because you are in your original form that you can defeat me?" Chaos asked, skeptically.

"Only the Moon Child possesses powers that can harm me."

"That may be true," Mars conceded, "but I'm not here to destroy you. I came for him and I'm not leaving without him."

"You're welcome to-"

"Silence," Princess Mars interrupted, "You can have nothing more to say."

Jadeite's lips shut with an angry snap. He raised his hands as his eyes began to glow red.

"This will be a pleasure." He informed her.

Mars readied herself for battle.

* * *

Venus was tired of running and strongly suspected she'd been going around in circles for some time. 

"Kunzite!" she shouted, in exasperation, "Where the heck are you!?"

Feeling frustrated, she plopped herself down onto the floor that was not a floor, but possibly the inside of Chaos.

"How am I supposed to find that idiot in this place?" she asked no one in particular.

She took a look at her watch. In about three minutes, Usagi and Mamoru would be closing off Chaos's entrance from the world. She didn't relish the thought of being on the wrong side of that seal. Or of anyone else she cared about being on the wrong side either.

She sighed and pushed herself to her feet once more. She took a few steps aimlessly, then stopped.

"Of course," she hit her head with the palm of her hand.

Closing her eyes she focused on reaching to the core of her memories of her past self - the person who had known the intricacies of what it meant to hold the power of Venus. With a smile she opened her eyes and saw a shimmering red line - almost like a thread - reaching off into the darkness.

With a chuckle she began to sprint.

* * *

"I'm sorry!" Jupiter cried. 

Nephrite was lying on the ground, groggy after just being hit by a searing bolt of lighting.

He sat up gingerly and brushed the ashes of his cape off of his shoulder in rueful surprise.

"You are more of an opponent than I thought," he announced as he retraced his steps.

"I'm trying to tell you that I'm not your enemy!" Jupiter called desperately, "Can't you get that through your thick skull!?"

"You are not the most persuasive of women," he observed.

"I'd like to wipe that smile off his face with a -" Jupiter muttered under her breath. Still held in place by the shadow hands - they seemed to be a detached piece of Nephrite's power - she had nonetheless called forth a lighting bolt with little trouble. But it was difficult and draining to try to stop him without hurting him. He'd already managed to get two good cuts on her with his sword.

"Don't make me hurt you." she warned him as he circled back for another go.

"Tell me," he said, standing warily before her and shifting his sword experimentally, "who are you? My Queen sent me to dispatch you but I confess that I'm curious as to who I am required to kill."

Jupiter's green eyes glittered with emotion.

"I'm me!" she exclaimed, unclearly, "I'm Makoto, I'm your friend. Remember?"

He only looked more confused.

"You mean you are a servant of the Queen as well? What was your offense, then?"

"No, I'm not Beryl's servant!" Jupiter retorted, angrily, "I'd wouldn't serve that monster-bitch if she gave me -"

She was int erupted by a low, feral growl of rage. Nephrite swung up his sword with a deadly gleam.

"How dare you insult the Queen!?" he demanded in outrage.

"It's the truth!" Jupiter shouted, just as angry, "And if I have to beat it into you so be it!"

She struggled against the shadows but they held firm, and from the look in his eyes he meant to kill her this time.

Nephrite aimed the sword at her heart and sent it flying into the air with a rush of power. Jupiter couldn't move, but never one to panic, she drew on her powers as completely as she knew how and as the sword sped toward her the largest bolt of lighting either of them had ever seen struck the ground directly in front of her, blinding both of them.

The sound of the thunder ripped through the sky making them momentarily deaf. Nephrite blinked, trying desperately to see - relieved and somewhat surprised to find he was still alive.

Finally his eyes adjusted and he discovered that his shadows had fled from his opponent's power, while she appeared to sit slumping on the ground from where they had held her.

In front of her was a puddle of quickly hardening silver, which was all that was left of his sword.

He stood up slowly, very cautiously. If she had the power to melt a sword she was more than capable of destroying a flesh and blood creature. The smoke from his decimated power and weapon was acrid and rank and caused him to cough slightly as he approached her.

But he soon saw there was no need for stealth. Her last attack, calling, as it did, upon all her powers to create a bolt fast enough and powerful enough to stop his attack, seemed to have taken its toll on her. She was panting, not yet able to stand from the effort, and at the moment quite vulnerable. He made no secret of his approach and she looked up at him with a pale face.

He halted as he noticed the sudden, angry tears in her eyes - they cause her eyes to glitter in an odd way - and as he saw, close up, how young she appeared to be.

"Who are you?" he asked, in spite of himself.

She sniffed, and said in a watery voice, "I told you."

He frowned and raised a fist, slamming her with power in one swift movement. He used so much power that he was sure it must tear her apart, atom by atom - that was what the attack was meant to do - to reduce the victim into a shadow - a mere nothing.

Her scream of pain was cut off without warning as his attack mysteriously dispersed.

Suddenly she was bathed in a pale light that, when it faded, revealed her to be dressed in completely different clothing; her appearance was more regal, more commanding.

"You're -" he started at her sudden transformation.

"You absolute ass," she pronounced, catching herself as her transformation left her slightly weak. She shook her head and felt her hair, shimmering emerald tinting it, rustle along the fabric of her gown.

"I don't understand," he muttered, taking a step back.

Nephrite was left confronting an amazonian queen - with a death glare on her face. She no longer looked young and vulnerable, but proud, over-poweringly beautiful and wildly displeased. His brain was reeling in confusion and he put a hand to his brow.

"I don't know why I shouldn't just kill you," she stated, matter-of-factly, crossing her arms.

"Only," she added, "I suppose I would miss you."

"Makoto?" he asked, uncertainly. The fuzz in his brain was beginning to clear, he felt the shadows weaken around his heart.

"No," she answered, crisply, "I'm not simply Makoto, I'm not even quite the Princess of Jupiter - I'm just Jupiter. And frankly, I am extremely unimpressed with you -"

"Oh, my god." He whispered, his face turning pale.

Her brows snapped together in displeasure.

"My princess," he murmured.

"I'm not your princess!" she thundered, and the air around her thundered as well as if in sympathy. Nephrite was nearly knocked off his feet by the sound of it.

"You have betrayed me and forgotten me three times!" she exclaimed, stalking toward him, her gown flowing around her and the air thickening.

"Three chances, and all of them failures. The cycle of your treachery is appalling. Any sane woman would have tied you to a rock and let the harpies eat your liver."

"Tell me why," she said, stopping just in front of him where he knelt looking up at her stern face, "Tell me why I shouldn't put an end to your existence?"

He looked up at her in silence, his pale face blank and his eyes clear as they gazed at her powerful, vivid features. He felt as though an irate goddess stood before him, ready to crush him under her heels - a fate he remembered suddenly that he completely deserved.

"I can't," he managed to murmur hoarsely.

"You can't what?" she asked, sharply. He could feel the hairs on his arms begin to rise because of the electricity in the air.

"There is no reason," he finished, quietly. His eyes were large and sad as they gazed up at her.

"There is no reason you should forgive me, and no reason that I should continue to live."

He bowed his head in total submission.

"Please, release me."

Jupiter gazed down at him for a long moment. Electricity jumped from finger to finger as she stretched her hands and curled them into practiced fists. This was the final argument between them, she sensed; the one they'd been avoiding, the conflict that had lain in the back of their minds and hearts for thousands of years. Now they were both truly whole - finally past and present had united in them both but the conflict remained and it had takne Chaos to effect all of this.

Without the spirit to live, without something to spur him on, she knew that the kindest and most loving thing she could do for Nephrite or the others was to put them out of their misery as they'd requested. But she'd come so far...there had to be a reason, but she wasn't sure she knew what it was.

"One word frees us from all the weight and pain of life..." she murmured, almost absently.

He looked up in surprise, his eyes were cloudy because her words stuck a chord in his memory. On a hot day in a lifetime that had long ceased to exist he had stood with her and said those very words - the day he had told her something important for the first time.

"That word is..."

* * *

"Please!" 

Mercury had filled the vast gap of space with fog; she had sent wave after wave of icy cold water after her opponent and built a field of ice around herself and Zoisite, still lying on the ground.

But there was a reason that Kunzite was the best of Earth's guard; had been the best of Beryl's generals; he simply could not be stopped.

Every attack she threw at him he absorbed and sent it back to her. Eventually she stopped trying to attack and instead resorted to defense and evasion - which worked fairly well, but she was tired. And Kunzite hadn't even broken his first wind.

Reason, logic seemed of no use on him. She had spent the better part of five minutes arguing with him - trying to convince him that he wasn't Chaos's to command any longer. Nothing seemed to penetrate that icy mask or those soulless eyes. He meant to kill her, and the cold was sapping her strength.

She had constructed a shield of ice around herself and Zoisite as a last ditch effort to prevent disaster. But Kunzite, patient as ever, was hacking through it with his sword, and he was nearly through.

In desperation, no longer caring what happened to her, Mercury was trying everything she could think of to warm Zoisite back to life. She had never been more disappointed with her particular affinity for ice in her life.

"If only Mars were here," she kept murmuring, "there might be a chance."

She rubbed his lifeless arms; she lay curled around him, trying to make her body warm him. He showed little sign of coming back to life - it was simply far too cold.

With a final shattering of ice, Kunzite managed to get his sword through the barrier. In a few moments she would be trapped inside with him.

"Please!" she shouted as he raised his sword.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Mercury held still, afraid that some miracle had taken place and if she moved at all she would disturb it.

Kunzite turned abruptly and stared at something behind him.

"I can't allow you to interrupt," he said to someone.

"Well, this is a cold reception!"

Mercury gasped at the sound of Venus' voice.

"Venus!" she screamed, "I'm in here. Zoisite's badly wounded and Kunzite is -"

"Crazy, yeah, I know!" Venus called back.

"Don't worry, Mercury," she yelled to the ice structure, "take care of Zoisite. I'll handle this guy."

Kunzite raised an elegant brow.

"What?" Venus asked, smiling, "You don't think I can take you?"

"No."

Venus's bright smile faded, and an unusually serious look settled on her features.

"You aren't yourself right now, my love," she said, gently, "I hope you will forgive me when you are feeling better."

Kunzite said nothing, but took a firmer grip on his sword. He watched her, standing in a relaxed pose, his sword angled down, almost negligently, to the floor. But she wasn't fooled. She knew he could strike out in any direction from his current position, and that predicting his attack would be nearly impossible. Which was why she'd decided not to give him any time to attack first.

She powered up, whipped out her chain and sighted the sword. That would be the first thing to go, she decided.

* * *

Mars panted in her duel with Chaos. The monster was much more powerful than she, and they both knew it. Though it used Jadeite's attacks they were all much more powerful and with much nastier consequences than his normal power granted them. 

She was bleeding already from being thrown to the invisible but quite visceral ground. She didn't allow her injuries or worries to distract her, however, because she knew this fight was beyond her and it would take all her cunning to stay alive long enough.

She had to distract Chaos long enough for Usagi to seal them all away. That was the only thing Rei could be sure of with any certainty. By herself she knew she could never hope to force Chaos to leave the others. Chaos barely responded to any of her powers - in fact the only thing she had ever seen harm Chaos was the crystal.

Mars ducked another attack and rolled away.

Beads of perspiration lay on her brow but she didn't bother to wipe them away. Her spirit was strong and she felt courage at seeing Jadeite still alive, but the manner of his captivity made her blood boil. She wasn't one for losing her temper easily - but when she did lose it...Chaos would feel something before they were all exiled into eternity, of that she was sure.

The memory of Usagi's pale light as it seared through Chaos flashed into her mind. It seemed her senses were trying to tell her something. But what?

She watched Jadetie's dull eyes, remembering how they once flashed with his hidden emotions - how often he used to try to fool her and everyone else into thinking he was calm. She remembered how his eyes always betrayed his feelings for her - even when they'd been in a crowded ballroom or court where no such emotions would have been welcomed or sanctioned, his face had been a mask of indifference and sardonic gallantry, but his eyes had held a fierce fire in them whenever they looked at her.

That Chaos had taken that away from him only infuriated Rei more. She was determined Chaos would release Jadeite before they all died; she would not let him die in the hands of that thing.

Suddenly the image of Usagi's crystal flowed into her mind once more. The shock of the vision made her a fraction of a hair too slow in moving away from Chaos' attack and without warning she was forced to the ground in excruciating pain.

Jadeite approached her, with Chaos' smile.

"I finally pinned you, little firefly."

Mars gasped as she felt the cold metal of the sword that pierced through her shoulder, holding her effectively anchored to the strange floor.

_This is it_, she thought, sadly. She watched as Jadeite's face peered over her. He knelt down beside her, putting his face quite close to her own.

"What was that, princess?" he asked, mockingly.

Mars' clothing shimmered but she remained in her princess attire - her two pasts were melded know, she realized, she was finally becoming one person instead of two.

"You can't have him," she whispered.

Jadeite laughed and drew the sword roughly out of her shoulder.

"I think you see plainly that I have whatever I want," he replied.

_White light_ - Rei thought hazily, as Jadeite's face swam out of focus - _white light that beats away the darkness...but what is it?_

Almost, very dimly, she thought she heard a voice in her mind that sounded like his voice. It may have been only a memory.

Rei's heartbeat began to slow.

_"I've always wondered," she heard Mina say in her memory, "all of our powers are sort of tied to our deities, but what about Usagi?"_

_"Her power is different..." someone said._

"Different," Rei repeated, her eyes closed. Jadeite halted in his upward swing.

"What is it now?" he asked, sullenly.

_"Her power is stronger, it isn't an element or a concept, it's much simpler than that..."_

"Simple," Rei breathed.

Jadeite crouched nearer so that Chaos could hear her words. They were so faint that he had to bend over her until his bangs brushed her forehead to hear her.

_"It's..."_

"Love." Rei said, opening her eyes wide.

Chaos was caught off guard for a moment and involuntarily let her tight grip of Jadeite's soul slip. In that moment Jadeite gained control over his body again and dipped forward to kiss Rei. It was a simple gesture, there was certainly nothing supernatural about the act, but the sudden well spring of a purer emotion pouring through his body filled the inside of Chaos's host with a pale light that was burning to the touch. With an angry shriek Chaos jerked away from the light filling Jadeite's soul and launched herself out of his body. Her exit left Jadeite reeling over Rei's still figure.

"Sweetheart," he whispered as he stooped over her silent form, "I'm so sorry." Chaos continued to shriek all around him.

When he managed to gain his balance he immediately lifted Rei into his arms and stood up, staggering slightly.

"You tricked me!" he heard the universe around him thunder.

"You tricked yourself!" he retorted, "I told you she's my greatest strength."

Chaos's red eyes seemed to glow from all around him as he turned around trying to find his way out.

He heard a faint cough and looked down to find Rei was stirring. She opened her eyes.

"You're not dead," she said, and smiled.

"Not quite," he admitted. For a moment, looking into her eyes, he almost forgot there was any such thing as Chaos.

"How do we get out of here?"

The two turned to look at the baleful stare of the glowing red eyes.

* * *

"That was close," Venus called, and gave a low whistle.

She did not exagerate. Kunzite's blast had nearly taken the entire left side of her body off - she'd done a good job of dodging, but it was still a little too close for comfort, as her left shoulder could attest.

Earlier she had effectively managed to disarm him by using her chain to flick his sword away from him - something which had not seemed to affect him in the slightest. In fact, she thought ruefully, he seemed to fight better without the sword.

Already she could tell he was playing with her - he was testing her strengths and weaknesses - guaging each of her attacks and studying her methods, her reach, speed and stamina, all of these useful particulars he would soon employ in her demise.

So, before that imminent event arrived, Venus had to come up with one hell of a plan.

"I think it's time to act like a princess, " she said thoughtfully.

Her odd phrase served to fractionally halt Kunzite in his steps.

She took a deep breath and let her past self and present self merge.


	21. Heartbeat

**The Dreamer's Kingdom**

**Chapter 20 - Heartbeat**

* * *

Venus opened her eyes. 

The blinding flash of her transformation lasted mere seconds, but those seconds were enough for Kunzite to close in for a killing blow. Shock, however, seemed to have momentarily stayed his hand.

Before him stood, not the soldier he'd been about to destroy, but a damsel, a princess - and yet something more. Venus stood arrayed like the sun, her presence nearly lit up the darkness around them and her golden hair seemed to shimmer with light.

"Now," Venus said, flicking the hem of her fluttering gown out of the way, "I think we need to talk."

Kunzite dropped his offensive stance to adopt a defensive one instead, keeping a wary eye on his newly transformed enemy.

"I don't know what that villainous witch has told you, my dear," Venus said, lightly, "But whatever it was you may be assured that it was nothing more than complete fabrication."

_I am so well spoken_, she thought, smugly.

Kunzite frowned.

"I do not take orders because I wish to," he said at last.

Venus blinked.

"Then, why in the name of all that's baffling are you trying to kill me?" she demanded.

Kunzite gave her a look that a wolf might give a hunter and approached her slowly, still extremely cautious.

"I am bound by my word. My word is my bond. I am bound, therefore, to serve."

To his surprise and displeasure, Venus snorted.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," she declared.

"You aren't bound to her, you were freed quite some time ago. She's lied to you, sweetheart, don't you see that? She's trying to use that noble nature of yours to turn you back into her service. Which was very clever of her," Venus added rather enviously.

Kunzite said nothing to this, he merely stared at Venus.

"Don't I know you?" he asked, suddenly.

Venus had the grace to keep from rolling her eyes.

"Yes, you do know me." she answered, "I'm only your one true love."

Now it was Kunzite's turn to snort.

"Don't be ridiculous." he said, crushingly.

This was clearly the wrong thing to have said. Venus's brows snapped together and a dangerous frown appeared on her face.

"I've had about enough of this," she stated through her teeth, "I have been patient with your hard-headedness and pride, and with your stupid sense of honor, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let you call me a liar - no matter how handsome and noble you are. I have honor too, you know."

Kunzite found himself faintly amused at this tirade.

"Very well, honor me with ending this fight," he suggested, casually.

"I'm trying to, you infuriating man," she growled, "I know what you're planning in that devious mind of yours. You're going to strike me down, but you don't know that that's the biggest mistake you could make."

"Why is that?" he asked, powering up effortlessly and trapping any escape she might make to the side or behind by means of a force-field.

"I think you can figure it out," Venus said calmly, pulling out her chain and coiling it around one arm. Then, quite unexpectedly, she threw it to the ground in front of him. She waited, unperturbed, for the coming blast.

Kunzite still didn't trust her, but he saw no flaw in his plan even if she was aware of it. He launched the blast of power at her, gathered from her last attack and watched as she stood calmly, not looking at the attack but instead looking straight into his eyes.

He was amazed at the calm in her eyes - as she looked steadily at him. It unnerved him, it reminded him of something or someone. Who was it? The blue of her eyes seemed to bleed into everything around him. It all happened in a split second.

At the last moment, Venus closed her eyes. There was a flash and then...nothing.

She blinked her eyes open and found herself confronting a cool gray gaze that was slowly melting into green. Kunzite's arms were on either side of her,; he was stooped over her in a protective stance, his face inches from hers. He had teleported in front of her - he had stopped his own attack at the last minute.

"Venus?" he said, looking uncertainly down into her eyes; his expression was both lost and relieved.

Venus let out a long sigh and smiled.

"Better late than never," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck before he had time to protest her kissing him.

* * *

"I don't know if we're going to make it." 

Jadeite wasn't sure if he'd spoken out loud, but Mars nodded against his shoulder. He'd taken advantage of the fact that he now had a cape and armor to use strips of the cape to stop her shoulder from bleeding. But it didn't seem like a shoulder wound was high on the priority list now. Chaos was attempting to kill them by repeatedly attacking them in her shadow form - her red eyes glowed with murderous intent.

Mars leaned against him, watching their backs, while he did his best to deflect Chaos's attacks and to protect her at the same time. Once in a while she managed to summon enough strength to get off an attack or two at Chaos. None of it did Chaos any harm, but it did keep them alive. But for how long?

"Rei, since it seems probable that we are about to - die -" he took a a moment to raise a psychic portal to deflect Chaos' energy into a different place.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Then, I think I should tell you - that - I - love you," he grabbed her and forced both of them to duck the negative energy that whooshed past them in a shadowy arch.

"And," he continued, "I wouldn't have been satisfied with anything less than - you with me - for, well -"

They turned to meet the glowing red eyes fixed on them. There was nowhere to run and they were both nearly exhausted.

"Forever," he finished.

He felt her put her arm around his waist and pull herself up straighter.

"That suits me, Jade." she whispered.

Chaos's eyes loomed in front of them, her maw open wide to devour them both. Jadeite put both arms around Mars and pulled her to him.

"I told her I wasn't leaving without you," Mars murmured, her breath tickling his cheek as they forgot about Chaos closing in on them, forgot about everything outside of the two of them.

"I never will." She concluded. He buried his face in her hair and closed his eyes.

_Forever_. He thought and he knew she heard him now because she wanted to.

Chaos's shriek grew louder and louder until it surrounded them, blocking out all sound, all light, and all breath.

Mars, having resigned her soul to death, was surprised to hear something that sounded both so strange and so beautiful that she couldn't believe her ears.

"Jupiter Oak Evolution!!!"

Thunder, clear and booming, cut through the screaming voices of Chaos's cloud and ripped a blazing path through her darkness.

"There's more where that came from!" yelled a clear voice.

"Jupiter?" Mars cried, jerking her head out of Jadeite's embrace.

"Mars?" Jupiter exclaimed, happily, and Mars noted distractedly that Jupiter had changed clothes somehow.

"I can't believe we found you!" her friend continued.

"We?"

"I rescued Nephrite," Jupiter explained, patiently.

Mars caught sight of a caped and armored figure sending what looked like an army of shadows after the retreating red eyes.

"We need to leave soon, love," he called over his shoulder.

"Love?" Mars asked.

Jupiter's cheeks tinted only slightly. Her bearing was somehow both wilder and stronger than Mars had ever seen in her before. As if all the hints of her character were now come into full view.

"We need to find the others. Come on!"

Jadeite, who had remained nonplussed through most of this bewildering exchange, shook his head and promptly carried Mars after Jupiter and Nephrite.

* * *

"Usako," Mamoru murmured, keeping her hand firmly in his, "It's been ten minutes." 

Usagi refused to budge. She was standing stock still watching the back corner of the cave - staring at it in intense concentration.

The miasma of darkness had grown so much that it had nearly forced the two of them back to the entrance.

"We have to do it now, sweetheart," he said softly, pained by his own words, "if we don't you may not survive."

"I don't care if I survive," she answered, a tear forming in the corner of one eye.

"I can't do this to them. Let's give them just a little more time," she pleaded.

"Five more minutes," he said at last, his eyes full worry and frustration, "no more. We can't risk the universe because of our friends - even if I would like to."

Usagi nodded and drew out her wand.

"I know they'll be here...five more minutes," she muttered, staring with new determination at the growing darkness.

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Lady Mercury," Kunzite apologized, sweeping his new found cape behind him as he knelt beside her. 

"I was not -"

"It's alright," Mercury answered shortly, not out of anger, but out of panic for Zoisite's condition.

"No one is to blame."

"What's wrong with him?" Venus asked, standing beside Kunzite to look over his shoulder at the inert, youngest Shitennou.

"He's frozen," Mercury replied, "So much so that his body has gone into a semi-hibernating state. It's what has kept him from bleeding to death, but if he doesn't wake up soon..."

She trailed off, looking at his pale face. As Venus came to stand beside her, Mercury flinched and noticed the golden gown Venus was wearing now.

"You look very different," she noted.

"Oh," Venus smiled, "I know, I'm not two people anymore. Just me - Venus. This is my princess dress - do you like it?"

Mercury pursed her lips.

"It resembles the gowns worn by the British and French nobility in the early 19th century," she said, examining the cut of the fabric, "but there is something definitely otherworldly about it."

"Um...thanks," Venus replied.

Mercury turned to look at Kunzite.

"You've changed as well," she added, "That armor you're wearing looks exactly like the drawings of the British Prince Edward, they called him the Black Prince, from the late 15th century. Interesting. This suggests, of course, that Earth was not as advanced as the rest of the planets, but was in fact a good four centuries behind. No wonder we thought of you as barbarians..."

"Ami, you're glowing," Venus pointed out.

To her surprise, Mercury noticed that she was indeed glowing. There seemed to be a pale ghostlike fabric wafting around her senshi uniform, transparent still but faintly visible.

"It must be my memories," she exclaimed, "my past self."

The transparent dress and accompanying glow faded abruptly.

"What am I going to do?" She asked, suddenly quiet and sad; "He's going to die and there's nothing I can do about it."

Venus and Kunzite shared a look.

"I'll try to find Mars," Venus suggested, "in the meantime, why don't you try bandaging him up?"

Mercury blinked.

"Of course," she said, and immediately looked around for something to bind up the frozen wound with. Kunzite used his sword to awkwardly cut a swath of fabric from his cape and aided Mercury in wrapping it around the slash in Zoisite's abdomen.

"None of the organs is injured," she explained, "though there has been a great deal of bleeding. If I had a needle and thread this would be so much easier."

"And something to sterilize the wound with," she added.

"Don't worry," Kunzite said, quietly, putting a hand on her fragile shoulder, "He will be alright."

Mercury's chin trembled but she managed to nod her head.

"I never told him..." she began, but stopped.

"I think he knows that," Kunzite said, staring thoughtfully at Zoisite's cold face.

"I don't know," Mercury shook her head, "In the past he always used to chase me and I always ran away. I didn't think he could have any serious affection for me. But he never gave up, even when I was cold to him. The stupid things he used to trick me into doing," she sniffed and let out a choked laugh, "I would get so furious with him, but he laughed it off. I meant to tell him, before you all left..."

Kunzite had watched her shimmer softly into Princess Mercury, the soft folds of her pale gown settling around her, and he wondered if she were talking about yesterday or a thousand years ago.

"You'll just have to tell him when he wakes up," he suggested.

"Yes," she answered, not noticing that her arms were now encased in sleeves as she smoothed her hair out of her eyes.

"It's about time!" they heard Venus cry out joyfully.

"What do you mean!?" Mars' peeved voice answered majestically, "We've been looking for you."

"It doesn't matter," Jupiter interrupted, as everyone else approached the trio on the floor, "the important thing is that we've got to get the hell out of here before Chaos...comes..back-what happened to him?"

She stood, swathed in shades of emerald and jade from head to foot, looking like she'd walked out of a myth, staring down at Zoisite as her green hair curled over her shoulders.

"Mars, we need you to try to warm Zoisite up."

"I beg your pardon?" Mars asked Venus in a deadly voice. Her own hair was a razor sheet of crimson, causing her to look both exotic and magical, like an pagan priestess.

When she and Venus stood side by side they were almost too bright to look at.

"Zoisite is frozen and you are the only one of us adept at heating things," Venus explained patiently.

"Oh," Mars answered, turning to find Zoisite on the ground. She knelt carefully in her voluminous skirts and put a gentle hand on his brow.

She closed her eyes and the air around them began to warm up, yet the space around Zoisite remained extremely cold.

Mars gave an exasperated sigh and opened her eyes.

"I can't do it," she stated flatly.

They gaped at her.

"It isn't a matter of warming him up," Mars continued, "There is a power around him that is keeping the air this cold."

"Chaos?" Jupiter suggested, throwing a nervous look over her shoulder where Jadeite and Nephrite stood watching the darkness behind them.

"No," Mars answered, frowning, "I think he's doing it. He must have done it as a last effort to keep himself alive."

Venus' eyes widened.

"That was really clever," she said, admiringly, "but how do we get him to stop?"

"I'm not sure," Mars answered. She suddenly turned over her shoulder and called, "Jadeite!"

The young man turned around instantly and came to her side.

"Can you talk to Zoisite? Even when he's like this?" Mars asked him, "Can you get him to stop his own power?"

Jadeite looked into his friend's face for a moment, then up at Mars.

"Yes," he said, turning to fix his unsettling eyes on Mercury, "but it will be better if she talks to him."

"How can I-" Mercury began.

"Don't worry," Mars smiled, laying a comforting hand on the Ice senshi's.

"Jadeite knows what he's doing."

Mercury caught Jadeite's smirk and tried to suppress her doubts.

"You better hurry, whatever you decide to do," Nephrite warned them, "I can feel the heart of Chaos coming closer. She's recovered from my trap and she's coming."

"Give me your hand," Jadeite commanded and Mercury placed her hand in his. He put both their hands on top of Zoisite's cold fingers and closed his eyes.

* * *

"We have to," Mamoru said, "We have to now, or there won't be a world left."

"I know," Usagi answered, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered as she and Mamoru joined hands and lifted the wand to point at the mass of growing Chaos.

A pure white light joined by a golden one began to glow around the wand's tip.

"I hope it will be enough," Mamoru murmured. They had never joined their powers together so completely.

But it was the only way he could think of to stop Chaos now and still keep Usagi alive. They had to seal her off or they would no longer be able to.

He spared a moment in his agonized mind to think of his friends still trapped inside. Was he doing the right thing? He knew it was right, and yet...he couldn't believe there wasn't some way they would survive. He had wanted them to share in the experience of establishing a new world. For them to finally know peace and to enjoy living their lives without worrying about some new threat. He had wanted them all to be happy. The happiness he was sure they deserved after so many lifetimes of suffering.

The wand began to shine even brighter, their concentrated powers nearly overwhelming. The furthermost tendrils of Chaos started to writhe.

Neither he nor Usagi noticed as the Dark Kingdom began to glow.

* * *

Mercury felt as if she could suddenly see everything invisible in the hearts and minds of other human beings. 

_What a dreadful power to have,_ she thought.

_You have no idea_, Jadeite answered her.

_I'm going to bring the two of you together, mind to mind. It's up to you to convince him,_ he added.

Mercury didn't reply but simply waited. Suddenly she could feel a mind beside or inside her own - it felt like a faint warmth, and it looked like a small, glowing light.

_Zoisite?_ she asked, hesitantly.

From the depths of the light came a faint voice.

_Mercury?_

Her relief threatened to overwhelm her, and she just managed to keep herself from breaking her own concentration.

_Yes, it's me. Listen, you have to wake up, you have to let the air around you warm up again._

_But,_ he answered, _but I'll die...I was dying...my mother said - I...it was my fault._

Mercury didn't understand any of this odd answer but she replied:

_Nothing is your fault. We'll talk about it later. But you have to wake up now, Chaos is coming and -_

_Chaos!_ She felt him tremble in her mind, the light flashed wildly.

_Please, _she continued to plead, _wake up._

_I don't think I can,_ he answered, apologetically, _I used all my energy to create that cold, and I'm so tired..._

Already she could hear his voice fading. Panic was beginning to flood her heart.

_Zoisite!_ Her mental voice thundered even in her own mind:

_You have to wake up!_ she commanded, desperately, _You have to try! I can't leave you here -_

_But, Ami - _he countered, his voice becoming softer.

_No!_ Mercury cried wildly, forgetting everything else: _No! You come back this instant! Do you hear me!? All these years you've never given up on me, and if you do it now, so help me -I'll..I'll..._

_I'll try._ She heard his voice reply, faintly.

_Don't try, please,_ she said, her mental voice quiet, _I need you._

_Mercury,_ she heard Jadeite's voice in her mind, _you have to -_

With a jerk, Mercury found herself in the middle of a battle field, with Chaos literally all around them.

She looked down at Zoisite, but he was still.

"Watch out!" someone called and Mercury threw herself over his body as a terrible, raging shadow with sharp black teeth flew over her head screaming.

The others were making a circle around herself and Zoisite, already hurling attacks at their omnipresent, intangible opponent. But Mercury knew that nothing they could do would offset what Chaos was capable of doing to them.

"There's no way out," Mercury whispered, "We'll never get out."

She started to stand but felt something claim her hand.

She looked down to find Zoisite's leaf green eyes fixed on her face. He smiled weakly.

"You were about to give up, weren't you?" he accused her, softly. His voice was pale and he took a lot of breaths in between his words, but he was breathing, and his heart was beating, and that was all that mattered.

Mercury flung her arms around him as the world around them began to collapse. Chaos' screams grew to a fever pitch, like a thousand screeching harpies. She buried her face in his neck and felt him gently embrace her. She heard the shouts of her friends as they retreated into a centralized clump around the two of them.

Someone put a hand on her shoulder, and then she felt another hand on her back.

"Think of home!" she heard Venus command in a bright tone.

She hugged Zoisite tighter and squeezed her eyes shut.

* * *


	22. The End of Dreaming

**The Dreamer's Kingdom**

**Chapter 21 - The End of Dreaming**

**

* * *

**

"What is it?"

Serenity's soft voice whispered in his ear.

Endymion opened his eyes, gazing around him in wonder. He blinked his eyes in disbelief, barely daring to breathe.

Blindly he reached for her hand and found it already reaching for his. They stood together like two children caught up in wonder.

"It's home." He said.

* * *

Jupiter groaned. Something was poking her in the back. 

She sat up gingerly and rubbed her neck.

"Your body is my temple, my love," a deep voice intoned from somewhere underneath her, " and I avidly worship it, but would you mind getting off of me?"

Jupiter laughed and rolled off of Nephrite, who'd, until that moment, very kindly served as her cushion.

He smiled but soon caught his breath when, instead of helping him up, Jupiter placed both hands on either side of his head and leaned down to kiss him.

He responded admirably well, for having been out of practice for so long.

She broke away first and pulled back to gaze down at him, her auburn hair with winking green tints tickled his neck.

"How did we get here?" he asked, softly. She thought he might have meant a variety of different things by that question, but she chose to go with the most literal meaning.

Jupiter took a moment to lift her head and look around them and Nephrite tore his gaze away from her lovely neck to look as well.

They were lying in what appeared to be a huge patch of roses, which might once have been domesticated but which were now quite wild and tangled around them.

Jupiter gave a sigh and straightened, pulling Nephrite up with her until they could sit together in the roses.

"I don't know," she admitted, "I'm not even sure where we are. The last thing I remember was trying to teleport out of Chaos."

Nephrite cleared his throat uncomfortably and reached to capture Jupiter's hand in his own, playing idly with her long fingers. She looked at him, playfully, but soon grew still when she saw the somber look on his face.

"About that," he began, "I-"

He stopped, feeling her fingers lying lightly on his lips. He looked up at her and found she was smiling at him, and all the frightening majesty that had been in her bearing before had melted away to be replaced by a tender, bountiful understanding.

"It's the past," she said, holding his eyes with her own, "it doesn't matter anymore. It was just a bad dream."

Her smile faded into a lopsided grin that he especially loved and her eyes filled with warmth as he gently removed her fingers and kissed the inside of her wrist.

"I'm glad we finally woke up," he said at last, feeling an overwhelming sense of peace and happiness fill him.

"Let's go find the others," she suggested, though they both had more than a slight inclination to remain with each other in the roses for the rest of their lives.

Nephrite rose and pulled her to her feet and together, hand in hand, they walked through the overgrown garden.

* * *

Serenity and Endymion stood on the steps of the palace that stood in the heart of the Golden Kingdom and simply stared at the beauty that surrounded them. 

Every vestige of darkness, every shadow or memory of the Dark Kingdom and of Chaos was utterly wiped away. Only the soft wind blew, sweetly and smelling faintly of roses.

"Was it the power we used to seal away Chaos?" Serenity asked, her pale white hair swishing over her shoulder as she turned to look up at him.

"I'm not sure," he answered, "Whenever I used the golden crystal it always seemed like something responded. I think maybe..." he trailed off as he looked at the pale blue sky.

"You have restored the heart of the Earth, Sire."

Both Serenity and Endymion turned quickly to see the approaching man. He had pale hair tinged with gold, and wore a long tunic. There was a small golden horn protruding from his head, buried beneath his hair.

"Helios," Endymion breathed.

"But, you're not a dream," Serenity added, startled as Helios took her hand gently and saluted it.

"No," he said, smiling, "I don't need to be here. Thanks to you I've finally awakened."

"Then, those men," she pursued, "the ones we had to defeat -"

"Vulcan, Hyperion, Titan and Apollo," Helios recited, nodding, "they are my future guardians. The Solar Quartet. Now they are at rest again, thanks to you."

"Future guardians?" Endymion asked, raising a stern eyebrow.

"Uh, very far in the future, of course, Sire," Helios answered, blushing faintly, "Of course I'll stay here for a long time before I'm needed in Crystal Tokyo."

"Of course," Endymion repeated, receiving a gentle nudge in the ribs from his Queen who wore a faintly exasperated smile on her lips.

"How did all of this happen?" Endymion asked Helios, gesturing gracefully to the surrounding splendor.

"The Earth has been calling for her chosen King to return for many years," Helios replied, stepping down to walk with them around the palace.

"In the past, the Silver Millennium," he explained, "everyone lived on the surface of the Earth, and it was called the Golden Kingdom in honor of the true Golden Kingdom - the heart of the Earth - this place. But because this was hidden for so long, Earthlings came to think of it as merely a myth. Until you were born, Sire."

"Me?" Endymion asked, startled.

"You probably don't quite remember since you were a child at the time," Helios replied, looking searchingly into Endymion's eyes, "The Earth chose you from your birth to be her King. And that's why she allowed you and your four guardians access to the true Golden Kingdom. I was there too, but only as a spirit. I hadn't awakened yet."

Endymion shook his head.

"This is all a bit...unusual," he said at last, "But I suppose it makes sense."

Helios nodded, understandingly. Suddenly he frowned and turned his head as if searching for something.

"Where are your guardians, Sire? Surely they have accompanied you. And if you are here, my Queen, I know your guardians must be close behind," Helios said.

Serenity and Endymion exchanged a glance.

"In the battle with Chaos," Serenity murmured, "they engaged the enemy directly and sacrificed themselves."

Helios' eyes widened in shock.

"But, surely -" he began, then stopped.

"It seems so unfair," Serenity whispered, and Endymion wrapped his arms around her.

* * *

Mercury and Zoisite were perfectly unaware that they were being mourned by their King and Queen. They were nearly perfectly unaware of anything besides each other, at the moment. 

Mercury had awoken to the pleasant but unusual sensation of being kissed awake. When she opened her eyes she found Zoisite's arms around her and his face beaming down at her, looking more pleased with himself than she could ever remember seeing him.

"Her angel face, as the great eye of Heaven, shined bright and made a sunshine in the shady place." he quoted, softly.

"I'm not a fairy queen," Mercury informed him primly, attempting to move into a less indecorous position and merely ending by sitting in his lap.

"Maybe not," he agreed, kissing her nose, "but you look like one."

Mercury blushed brightly, but there was a faint smile lurking in the corner of her mouth and he saw it.

"Oh, come now, lady mine," he smoothed her hair away from her face, "After that touching display you made in saving my life, I don't think you can hide or deny your feelings anymore."

Mercury's eyes grew somber and she looked at him a bit uncertainly.

"No," she admitted, "And I wish I hadn't been so stubborn about it."

"Now that's good sense!" Zoisite exclaimed, leaning down to kiss her again, but she stopped him with a hand.

"Wait," she commanded, "let me say this."

He stopped and adopted an air of serious attention, but he didn't release her in the slightest.

She sighed and he had to fight hard to keep his lips from twitching into a smile at her large, doleful eyes.

"You've been so patient with me," she began, "and I have been very cruel to you - No, I have," she interrupted his protestations.

"So I want to tell you now, before I -" she gulped, " lose my nerve."

She took a deep breath and said, "I love you."

To her surprise he merely stared at her for a few moments in silence before raising an eyebrow.

"Is that it?" he asked.

Mercury's mouth dropped open and Zoisite couldn't restrain his laughter.

"I'm sorry, my dear," he chuckled, "but I've known that for ages."

"You have?" she stammered.

"Of course," he replied, amused, "It was only logical, after all."

Mercury's face grew sour and she pushed herself off of his lap to stand.

"You are the most conceited little peacock in existence!" she declared and promptly turned her back on him to walk away.

Zoisite, being completely healed and wearing armor and a cape, jumped up with some effort and trotted after her, catching her arm and easily spinning her around.

"I'm sorry, love," he said, contritely kissing her hand, "I apologize profusely."

Mercury pretended indifference. Zoisite looked at her for a long moment and then, still retaining her hand, he knelt in front of her.

Mercury blinked.

"What are you doing?" she asked, surprised.

He stared up at her and she noticed that his expression was completely humble and sincere. She felt her heart start to beat faster.

"I'm doing something I should have done a long time ago," he replied.

Mercury didn't even notice the nearby palace shimmering behind them.

* * *

Venus found herself in some kind of park. 

She congratulated herself on her inspiring leadership in getting them all free of Chaos with the teleport, but now she was rather upset to find herself alone and lost in a large, though admittedly beautiful, wood.

"Jupiter would love it here," she said to herself.

"Wherever here is," she added.

She gathered the front of her gown in one hand to keep herself from tripping and hiked through the forest for a few minutes, trying to get her bearings. The woods, however, were so tall and thick that it was nearly impossible to tell where she was.

She took the ribbon out of her hair, which had somehow remained through her transformation, and used it to tie up her skirts. The slippers she wore were not ideal for trekking around so she slipped them off and left them on the ground. She then proceeded to climb one of the largest trees, traipsing carefully out onto a limb to look at the countryside around her.

"Amazing," she sighed.

To her delight she saw the forest stretched for miles, like a sea, and that many silvery lakes dotted the landscape. There were mountain ranges behind her and in the center of what looked like an ocean of roses was a golden palace.

"That must be it," she murmured and moved to climb back down. At that moment she heard a cracking noise.

* * *

Mars walked quietly through the darkness sheltering the quiet pond. She was following her inner voice and a trail of thoughts that were becoming very amusing. 

In front of her she saw Jadeite, his hair nearly standing on end because he'd run his fingers through it so often in frustration. She smiled and crept up behind him, enjoying the fact that though she could hear his thoughts, he couldn't hear her's.

Jadeite halted abruptly in trying to determine where the others were when a pair of cool, dainty hands slipped over his eyes.

"Thank god," he sighed, and she felt a twinge of remorse at hearing the desperate relief in his voice. He had been more worried than she'd thought.

She dropped her hands but found, before she had time to take another breath, that she was being kissed very fiercely.

Mars responded in kind, her emotion beginning to build, but she soon put a hand to his face and gently forced him to pause.

His eyes were fevered and glittering as they looked into hers, the emotions tumbled over one another in his thoughts.

"I'm sorry that I scared you," she said, panting slightly.

"It's alright," he murmured, catching her chin in a quick kiss, "Just don't ever do it again."

"That's sounds like a threat," she observed, wryly.

To her amusement he grinned darkly.

"It is," he answered.

It was harder to push him away this time, but Mars finally accomplished the feat. This time he rested his forehead against hers, his breath stirring her bangs.

"We need to find the others," she said, quietly.

"I don't want anyone but you," he replied and dipped to kiss her again, but she dodged and he caught her cheek instead.

"That's very sweet," she answered, dryly, "but not at all helpful."

"I don't feel like being helpful," he warned her and she smiled and ducked quickly again. This time he caught her neck - but that was a mistake.

Mars quickly jerked him back and tried to ignore the look his eyes because she knew she had the same in her own.

"I'm serious," she said, sternly, "we need to make sure everyone else made it. And we need to find out where we are."

This seemed to sober him up, at last. He relaxed and released her, his usual calm features resettling themselves. But she noticed the way his eyes flashed when they looked at her and knew he wasn't far from forgetting about the rest of the world.

"Can you find them?" she asked.

He pursed his lips for a moment, then nodded. Taking her hand he turned to the North.

"This way," he said.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Serenity asked, lifting her head from Endymion's shoulder. 

He and Helios stood still, listening.

"I don't think so." He replied. The other man shook his head.

"I thought I heard..." Serenity began, then paused.

There was a faint call, like the sound of a bird.

"I did hear it!" Serentiy squealed, looking like her younger self suddenly. Her face was beaming as she picked up her skirts and began to run toward the rose gardens that surrounded the palace. Endymion and Helios sprinted after her.

"Jupiter!" Serenity yelled, over-joyed. Sudden and unlooked for hope caused Endymion to quicken his pace.

* * *

Kunzite wondered for a moment if he had died, and if he was now in some kind of heaven. 

But if it were heaven, he reasoned, where were his friends? His liege?

Where was Venus?

There were so many things he'd meant to say to her, before they'd been forced to face death in that black mass of shadows and madness. He'd meant to make up for the past, to make up for lost time and opportunities. Their differences, somehow, didn't seem so important - he realized perhaps they had always been simple excuses - mere syllogisms to keep him from actually taking responsibility with her. By convincing himself that he was being responsible, he had instead acted like a coward. But if he had even a single moment with her now, he would have -

As if in answer to his prayers, heaven opened up and dropped an Angel into his arms.

He heard a faint yelp and a cracking sound, and had a moment to look up, realizing that someone was falling, before his arms were full and a broken branch landed with a thud behind him.

When he managed to get the golden material off of his face he was stunned speechless as he met Venus' clear blue eyes and sunny smile.

"Well," she said, "fancy meeting you here."

"How -" he began, his brain working painfully slowly for the first time in his life, "Where -"

"I climbed up a tree," she explained, as if it were obvious.

"Um." he replied.

"I wanted to see where I was," she continued, "and then the branch broke. But we should head in that direction."

She turned in his arms, as comfortable there as if she'd been made for them, and pointed in the direction behind them.

"We're not -" he began, uncertainly.

"Dead?" She guessed, chuckling, "Not at all."

Then she was kissing him, and he had to take a moment to remember what it was he wanted to say to her. When he pulled back he saw she looked faintly disappointed.

"Venus," he began, but she frowned.

"If the next words out of your mouth are 'this is for your own good', I will take strenuous actions," she warned him, imperiously.

"I wasn't going to say anything of the kind," he assured her and set her down on the ground. She stood before him, with her hands on her hips, waiting, and looking more and more like a princess.

"I - Where are your shoes?" He asked suddenly.

She blinked, then looked down at her bare and slightly scraped feet.

"Oh, they're over there under the tree. I took them off to climb."

He suppressed a small smile and went to fetch them for her. Then, to her utter surprise, he knelt at her feet and carefully put her shoes on for her.

"Are you feeling well?" she asked.

"Perfectly."

Venus shrugged to herself and didn't wonder at his untying her ribbon from her skirt so that her dress now covered her legs once more.

She held out her hand for the ribbon but was truly startled when he shook his head. With one gentle hand he turned her around and gathered her hair, re-tying her bow for her.

As soon as he was finished she whirled around to confront him.

"You are acting most peculiar," she pointed out, "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

Kunzite smiled and put one hand to her face. She stared up at him, feeling suddenly very tense.

"I love you," he said, simply.

Venus blinked once, and then twice, while he waited for her to speak. At last she took a deep breath, opened her mouth, then shut it, and threw herself at him, winding her arms around his neck. He laughed as he caught her.

* * *

**A.N. **Epilogue to follow. Thank you for reading. - FF 


	23. Epilogue

**Dreamer's Kingdom**

**Epilogue**

* * *

"What a perfect place for a wedding."

Michiru marveled at the soft breeze that ruffled her hair slightly as she stood in the warm sunshine viewing a world that seemed hidden from time or darkness.

"Yes," Haruka agreed, fidgeting in her bridesmaid's gown, "It's beautiful alright. I bet you could drive through that countryside forever without having to stop. It's like a whole world inside our own."

Michiru suppressed a smile and put a hand on the other woman's arm to lead her toward the rest of the wedding party.

They were assembled in a large group of colorful variety in the center of the lawn of the Golden Kingdom, their happy conversation floated on the breeze to the approaching women.

"Told you you couldn't get away with that neck cloth, Neph," Zoisite was saying to his taller friend who scowled down at the purplecloth he wore and that Makoto, arrayed stunningly in her wedding dress, was removing from his throat.

She caught her fiance's eye and clucked at him with a smile which he soon returned, forgetting, as he gazed into her eyes, that there was a ban on purple clothand black velvet coats.

"And I thought I told you not to wear your hair in that old scrunchy you borrowed from Mako-chan," Ami's voice pronounced primly to her fiancee.

Michiru chuckled as she watched Zoisite bow humbly to his petite, soft spoken intended as she deftly removed the offending hair band and tied his hair back with a very becoming black silk tie.

"And I thought you were supposed to be Mr. Fashion," Makoto observed to him, with a smirk.

Zoisite colored slightly but his eyes sparkled with good natured amusement. He shrugged, taking the opportunity of Ami's proximity to play with her hair.

"Laugh on, women," Nephrite said, catching his friend's eye, "right now you have the upper hand, but wait until we get home after all this."

Ami blushed and pointedly looked at the ground, but Makoto eyed her fiancee with a challenging expression.

"Just wait, Mako-chan," Nephrite promised, his voice becoming lower with something like a growl at the end. Mako blushed faintly and gave a sharp tug on his newneck cloththat ruined his here-to-fore seductive smile.

Haruka, having overheard the exchange as well, nudged Michiru in the ribs and they both snorted - sharing something very like a glance of mutual congratulation and praise between them.

"Really, this is too much," Rei's flabbergasted voice rose above the rest. 

"Why am I surrounded by blond incompetency?"

"Well she didn't mean to forget them," Minako defended Usagi, while Jadeite looked on in amusement.

Rei crossed her arms and surveyed the three blonds with disapproval.

"It was your job to remember the bouquets, Usagi. That was the only thing you had to do. The only thing," she emphasized.

"And you two," she added, turning to Minako and Jadeite, "You were supposed to remind her to remember to pick them up."

All three hung their heads in mock-shame, except for Usagi who actually felt some genuine remorse.

"Don't be too hard on them, Hino-san," Kunzite said, noting the glint of unrepentant mischief in both his soldier and his wife's eyes.

"After all, they're only blonds."

Mina looked up sharply.

"Speak for yourself!" she retorted, "You're blond too."

"This is white, my dear," Kunzite explained patiently, smoothing his hair which was pulled back like Nephrite and Zoisite's.

"Perhaps you can't see it from your diminutive height," he then suggested, ignoring her squawks of indignation, and bent toward her until they were face to face.

The strange white crown that Minako wore nearly tumbled off her head along with the attached veil as she tilted her head to escape his alluring eyes.

"Careful," he murmured, catching the slidingarticle and replacing it gently. He leaned in as if he was going to kiss her, Minako closed her eyes in anticipation, but opened them when he gave her a slight, brotherly peck on the cheek.

"Well, we aren't married yet," he explained at her offended expression, though his eyes sparkled with amusement and teasing promises.

"I swear," she seethed, "sometimes I think you are a bigger flirt than I am."

"No one is a bigger flirt that you are, Mina-chan," Rei answered, "Unless it is this reprobate."

She gestured in a hopeless way toward her very dashing husband-to-be.

Jadeite only smiled, a very masculine, mischievous smile.

"It was very kind of you to sacrifice your happiness by accepting this humble rapscallion, princess," he answered smoothly, taking her hand and turning it over to plant a slight kiss on the inside of her wrist.

Rei blushed and jerked her hand away quickly, trying not to look flustered and not succeeding in the slightest.

"Yes," she snapped a bit breathlessly, "Well, I'm feeling charitable today."

Jadeite's smile widened at her reaction.

"I hope your charity will continue." He said, gazing at her meaningfully, "I have a feeling that you will have to be extraordinarily magnanimous with me this evening."

Rei coughed and turned to find something else to look at.

Kunzite suppressed a chuckle as he caught his prince's dark eye, knowing that Mamoru had been listening to this exchange with the utmost amusement.

"It seems strange that we're all really back here again," he murmured to his friend, "after everything that's happened. It's almost like we've gone back in time to that one crucial point. And this is our second chance."

Kunzite nodded, soberly.

"It is a second chance, my prince," he replied, "like a miracle."

"This is they way it should have been."

"Perhaps," Kunzite answered, "But then, sometimes the reward, when it comes, is sweeter because of the difficulties one goes through to obtain it."

Mamoru nodded, watching Usako hopping through the rose bushes to gather enough to make five bouquets. Her antics made him smile to himself as he went to help her.

Haruka and Michiru watched the prince and princess, or king and queen, as they would soon be called, wander through the flower gardens of the Golden Kingdom, gathering different colored roses into clumps.

"They really are like children, sometimes," Haruka marveled.

"Speaking of children," Michiru interrupted, "Where is ours?"

They scanned the group with care and finally lighted upon a dark head bobbing around the waists of the others.

"Hotaru," Michiru called, "Come here and let me see you in your dress."

Hotaru, hearing her name, turned her large amaranthine eyes on her adopted parents and came skipping forward slowly but happily in her paleyellow dress.

"Do you like it?" she asked, breathlessly, as Haruka scooped her up and held her.

"Setsuna-mama made it."

"It's lovely, just like everything Setsuna makes."

"Why, thank you," the dark voice intoned.

Haruka and Michiru turned to see the taller, dark haired woman dressed in a becoming dark garnet gown standing quietly behind them.

Setsuna was Usagi's Maid of Honor, and wore a long gown similar to Michiru's and Haruka's, though theirs were dark blue and green.

Setsuna had designed all of the gowns for each of the senshi and their princess, as well as designing the bridesmaid's' dresses for Michiru and Haruka, and her own. She had made Hotaru's by hand, however, so that it would fit the tiny girl to perfection.

"She looks nice in yellow," Setsuna remarked, brushing Hotaru's bangs out of her pretty eyes.

"Yes, it gives her some color," Michiru agreed, smiling.

Haruka bounced Hotaru three times and laughed as the girl squealed.

"Are you ready to throw flowers at people?" she asked.

"Don't confuse her," Michiru muttered.

"I'm not supposed to throw them, Haruka-papa," Hotaru replied very sternly, "I'm supposed to drop them."

"I think it would be more fun to throw them," Haruka answered, but shrugged at the look she got from Michiru and Setsuna.

"Oh, well," she whispered to Hotaru, making her giggle.

"Is everyone ready?" Luna called out in exasperation.

She was standing beside the steps of the newly resurrected temple as Helios stood patiently, the soft wind ruffling his shaggy hair. Artemis stood on the other side of him, both cats were in human form for the occasion - dressed resplendently in black. 

Usagi was the first to the make-shift altar, which was in fact, simply a carved, alabaster pedestal that sat sedately on the grass.

They had all agreed that the wedding would be performed with simplicity and by the more ancient traditions of the Silver Millennium services - though, Mamoru and Kunzite had both been forced to promise their respective wives lavishly public, modern weddings as soon as the private ceremony was over. Nephrite had also promised Makoto a more traditional Japanese wedding later, but this was to take place on a much smaller and more intimate scale than those that Usagi, and especially Minako, had planned. Mamoru and Usagi would be married publicly (and the entire population of Japan would be invited) a few months from now. Ami and Rei believed that the extremely private homage to the Silver Millennium wedding ceremony would be more than enough of a wedding for them and their husbands were only too happy to agree. But for many reasons, none of which truly needed to be voiced, the people gathered so solemnly and reverently in the hushed shade of the temple agreed that the formality of the Silver Millennium arrangement was not only fitting but necessary. It was an event which had been cut short before its time - and fulfilling it today was the first step on the long road to mending the past forever.

Which was why Setsuna, Luna and Michiru had gone to such lengths to make sure that everything was as close to the past as possible, including the dress designs, the rings, the vows and even the music.

Gathering their considerable memories and talents together they had come up with a great deal of information that most of the other senshi were beginning to recall themselves. For instance, Setsuna had unerringly, after scrutinizing her most ancient impressions, designed gowns for each of the girls in accordance with what they would have worn at the time of their first lives. Ami, who had recovered a great deal of her lost knowledge, also aided in authenticating these details of etiquette and dress, and the results were truly astounding.

Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru wore, according to their preferences, blue, green and yellow, while she wore dark red, but each of the gowns was crafted in a unique style. Haruka's was a sheath like dress, strapless, with a long-sleeved, calf length coat of the same material. Hand-stitched in gold were emblems of the winds and the sun and stars that ran in borders along the train of the gown and the trim of the coat. She also wore a small, plain gold circlet on her head. Michiru, in a sea-green gown stitched in silver, wore a similar design except that her full length over jacket had a softer collar and rounded cut. She also wore a silver circlet on her head, and the stitching around the gown was of waves and moons.

Setsuna had refused to put Hotaru in black, choosing yellow instead in an effort to emphasize the charm of her youthful innocence. Her dress was a version of a child's princess dress rather than the over formal, traditional Saturnine gown. With yellow tea roses in her hair, Setsuna thought she looked beautiful, and Hotaru was evidently more than pleased with the result.

Designing the gowns of the four Senshi had been relatively easy. Ami wore a pale blue and silver gown with long bell sleeves and a drooping collar which set off her elegant, fragile shoulders and neck. She wore two small blue jewels in her hair (which also served to hold her feather light veil in place), and, along with the few tiny jewels that sparkled in the blue embroidery of her hem,this washer only ornamentation. 

Rei's dress was much longer and more complicated, consisting of a pale white wrap with a deep, dark violet lining that matched her eyes; the wrap fit her upper torso and gathered at the back just below her shoulder blades, then fanned out to trail at some length behind her like a very long cloak or robe. Her gown was a paler violet, willowy and diaphanous with a empire waist, like the all others. She wore her hair up with a netting and very long and modestveil. 

Makoto was the most exotic looking of the four; where Rei resembled a priestess and Ami a nymph, Makoto looked like a goddess. Her dress was pale coral, raspberry pink and white, sleeveless - in fact the material looked as though it had simply been draped over her form. It came over her shoulders and across her chest to meet and cinch at the empire waist and flowed down to the ground from there. But instead of being tucked into the back, the two straps of cloth hung much longer behind her, down her back and trailing as a train. There were tiny pink roses embroidered onto the chest material, which met like a halter top behind her neck. She wore her hair down with a long veil attached to the tiara of roses on her head.

Minako's gown resembled more typical Lunar fashion for princesses, in that the dark gold of her under skirt was covered by an over skirt of a white transparent material and her sleeves were short, puffed silk affairs with gold-orange threads. Her veil was held in place by a tiara and her usual bow was missing, allowing her long hair to hang free down her back. The over skirt was also longer than the under skirt, and formed a train behind her that shimmered as she walked. It was split in the front, revealing the darker gold material beneath.

Usagi was arrayed in a dazzling white with an overlay of lace lined with moonstones and pearls. The gown was fitted under her bust with material spilling down from the empire waist. The dress's many layers fluttered around her as her hair, now a paler blond, nearly white, flowed out behind her in her normal two tails. She wore a simple crown and looked like an angel.

But Setsuna hadn't stopped with the women; she had gone out of her way to insure that the men were dressed de rigour as well. The four guardianswore black velvet jackets, fitted pants and top boots - the sleeves of their jackets were embroidered with differing colors but each had a gold thread lining. They also wore short capes for the occasion, tied across the chest and drooping over one shoulder. Their dress swords were buckled to one side in silver sheaths. Kunzite wore a slightly longer cape than the other four, but Mamoru's was the longest. 

Mamoru was not dressed in black, but in gold and white - in a well fitted jacket, pants and boots, with epaulets of gold and a circlet on his head.

Together, Setsuna reflected, they made an astounding picture - something like a dream or memory come true; as though they had walked out of a fairy tale, or medieval legend. The women looked like mythical creatures, such was their unique, otherworldlyelegance and charm.

Her reverie on her work was broken by a cough from Haruka. It was time for the ceremony to begin, which mean that she was called to stand before the altar with Usagi. She walked up the aisle carefully, so as not to trip on the folds of her heavy gown, and as she went she spotted Ami's mother and Rei's grandfather standing at the back of the little group, looking out of place in their dressy yet unforgivably modern apparel - and yet their faces were full of so much tenderness and emotion she couldn't help but wonder if they could have their own understanding of the true significance of this particular ceremony. 

She turned to take her place beside Helios and Usagi and waited as Michiru thrummed the last note on her violin.

It was well, all things considered, that the five couples would finally be united. It put the evils of the past to rest, and it built a firm foundation for the future of Crystal Tokyo. Now that the Golden Kingdom, the heart of the Earth, had been restored, she knew the Earth could grow again - that its power could begin to heal itself. It was more than just a promising future.

She turned to look down and caught the future queen of Crystal Tokyo laughing as Nephrite stepped on Rei's extremely long train. The glare that both Rei and Jadeite threw back at him was full of amusement and promised retribution. 

In the dark, dream-filled eyes of the future King, Setsuna saw her own future and others' race by. Mamoru had come into hisbirthright as the chosen king of Earth, and her champion. The futurenow rested onhisshoulders.

It would be a future Setsuna looked forward to with great anticipation - knowing, as she did, certain things that would come to them all. She eyed the younger senshi and smiled a slow, knowing smile.


End file.
